*»i^i^!©f^r.w^^^*^#^«''^^ 







i 


m 




s 


m 




» 


sB 




i 


Jl 








^ir[''i[iiiiiTiifliirfrhffJiii^iaiii^n^ 



POETICAL WORKS 



JAMES THOMSON 



ILLUSTRATED. 



THE TEXT EDITED BY 



CHARLES COWDEN CLARKE. 




msm 



NEW YORK 



SHELDON AND COMPANY, 



498 AND 500 BROADWAY. 



^V' 



<^ 



o 






^ 



^*^.> 



--*'.' -"^ 



.^ 



i-r%;^^^' f-. 







/ 






THE 



Life of James Thomson, 

l^ith a (^iiiticism on his l^oetj^y. 




;A3iIES THOMSON, the great author of the 
" Seasons," was the eldest son of the Eev. 
Thomas Thomson, minister of the parish of 
Ednam, Roxburghshire, and was born there 
on the 11th of September 1700. His father was of good 
birth, and seems to have been a man of excellent character 
and respectable talents. His mother was Beatrix Trotter, 
daughter and heiress to Mr Trotter, proprietor of Fogo, a 
small estate near Greenlaw in Berwickshire. The year aftei 
the Poet's birth his father was translated to Southdean, near 
Jedburgh. Thomson was thus from his birth fortunately- 
situated in point of scenery. He was brought up near the 
banks of the Tweed, the Teviot, and the .Jed, in the neigh- 
bourhood of the ancient ruins of Jedburgh, Dryburgh, Kelso, 
and Melrose, and with the blue Cheviots bounding the hori- 
zon. It was a country not only of beautiful landscapes, but 
teeming with romantic memories, and echoing with the songs 
afterwards destined to form the " Minstrelsy of the Border." 
It was fit that Thomson, who has best described the sublimer 
glories of nature, should be born, and that Scott, the best 
painter of its more picturesque aspects, should be buried, in 
the centre of Scotland's richest and most varied scenery. In- 
deed, the Earl of Buchan assures us that it was in Dryburgh 
Abbey that Thomson first tuned his " Doric reed." 



Tl LIFE OP JAMES THOMSON, 

At an early age, Thomson's promise attracted the notice of 
Mr Riccaltoun, minister of the neighbouring parish of Hob- 
kirk, who volunteered to superintend his education. To this 
his father consented, and he was placed at a school in Jed- 
burgh, -which was at that time taught in the aisle of the 
church. Here he pursued his studies so successfully, that Sir 
William Bennet of Chesters, near Jedburgh, a gentleman 
noted for his wit, and Sir Gilbert Eliott of Minto, whose 
gardener was Thomson's uncle, took a kindly interest in him, 
invited him to their seats, and encouraged the first buddings 
of his poetic genius. He began early to write verses, but was 
so ill satisfied with them, that on the first day of each January 
he proceeded, with a mixture of judicial gravity and sly 
humour, to commit them to the flames, having first recorded 
the reasons of the condemnation in a copy of humorous verses. 
We do not wish for the revival of the criminals thus sum- 
marily disposed of, but Ave wish that some of the clever dog- 
gerel of the sentences they received had been preserved. Two 
of these boyish compositions have escaped the burning, and 
are inserted in some editions of his works — one on his sister 
Lizzy parting with her cat, and another addressed in his 
fourteenth year to Sir W. Bennet. We quote the latter, as 
the shortest of the two literary curiosities : — 

** My trembling ^luse your honour does address, 
That it's a bold attempt most humbly I coni"ess ; 
If you'll encourage her yovmg fagging flight, 
She'U upwards soar, and mount Parnassus' height. 
If Uttle things with great may be compared. 
In Rome it so with the divine Virgil fared ; 
The tuneful bard Augustus did inspire. 
Made his great genius flash poetic fire ; 
But if ui)on my flight your honour frowns, 
The Muse folds up her wings, and dying — justice owns." 

What a vast way he had to travel between this and the 
" Seasons" — a work which now contests the palm with the 
Georgics of the "divine Virgil" himself! 

In the year 1715, he was sent to the University of Edin- 
burgh to pass through the curriculum of study necessary to 



WITH A CEITICISM ON HIS POETRY. vil 

prepare for the Divinity Hall, he being destined for the 
Chtu'ch. Of his progress or proficiency during the first four 
years we know nothing. In the year 1718 he lost his father, 
under strange and painful circumstances. A place called 
Woolie, in the parish of Southdean, was said to he haunted by 
a ghost. In an evil hour Mr Thomson consented to try his 
clerical power in laying it. He had commenced the act of 
exorcism when, in the middle of his prayer, he was struck on 
the head by a ball of fire, which he attributed to diabolic 
agency. He fell down stunned and helpless, and was carried 
home, where he languished for a few days, and then expired. 
This event deeply impressed the Poet's mind. He became 
nervously apprehensive of supernatural agency, and afraid 
even to sleep alone. One night, his fellow-student and bed- 
fellow, as an experiment on his fears, walked quietly out, 
leaving Thomson asleep. He was soon recalled by the voice 
of the future author of the " Castle of Indolence," who had 
awaked, found himself alone, and ran out calling for help 
in great terror. After his father's death, his mother, who 
was left with nine children but slenderly provided for, effected 
a mortgage on her little hereditary estate, and removed with 
all her family to Edinburgh. With her James resided till 
the completion of his university studies. 

In 1719 Thomson entered the Divinity Hall, and the records 
prove him to have performed the usual exercises three times, 
Febraary 1720, February 1722, and May 1724, when his 
name disappears fi:om the books. He obtained no bursary, he 
took no prizes, and left Edinburgh College, as Johnson after 
him left Oxford, without a degree. From a few letters of that 
period still extant, he seems to have spent his time partly in the 
harmless merriment and convivialities of the then Edinbm'gh 
student life, with David Mallet, and Cranstoun, and Patrick 
Murdoch, " the round, fat, oily man of God " he afterwards so 
picturesquely described, and partly in poetical efibrts and 
aspirations. Poetry, not divinity, was his study ; and an 
occasional visit to a " tippenny cell " seems to have been his 
sole relaxation. He contributed three articles to a volume 
entitled " The Edinburgh Miscellany," which must have 



TIU LIFE OF JAMES THOMSON, 

been an anticipation of the albums and annuals which have 
since appeared in such crowds. One of them is on " Country- 
Life, by a Student of the University," and is interesting, as 
containing the germ and earnest of the " Seasons." During 
his attendance at the Divinity Hall, too, he seems to have 
written a number of poetical pieces, some of which, of no 
great merit, are still extant. His genius continued to trifle, 
like a babe in a meadow, " plucking witless the weak flowers," 
till it encountered the stormy theme of " Winter," and rose 
instantly, as if on the wings of the blast, to the full altitude, 
both of the subject and of his own powers. 

Our readers all remember the story of Hamilton the 
divinity professor having given Thomson a Psalm to para- 
phrase as an exercise, and of the reception it received at his 
hands. He is said to have told his student that, if he expected 
to be useful in the ministry, he must restrain his imagination, 
and, while giving it considerable praise, to have censm-ed some 
expressions initas tooflowery,and others as unbecoming, or even 
profane ; and this is reported to have determined him to for- 
sake his original intention of entering the Chm-ch. The story 
is founded on fact ; the Psalm was a portion of the 119th, and 
his explanation of it may easily be supposed to have been too 
luxuriant for a divinity class, where cold exposition is generally 
in more request than eloquence or genius. But it is not true 
that Hamilton's criticism finally altered Thomson's views ; as 
we find from his letters, that even after he went to London he 
still intended to be ordained. No doubt, however, he felt 
temporary chagrin. One is reminded of the analogous in- 
stance of the poet Pollok, whose first sermon in the United 
Secession Hall, which was filled with glowing and somewhat 
bombastic descriptions of the supposed effects of sin and the 
fall of man upon the material creation, and particularly of 
the "blowing of the first Monsoon," convulsed his fellow- 
students with laughter, created a smile where smiles were rarely 
seen, on the dry and lofty brow of the excellent Dr Dick, 
elicited from the poet the indignant interjected sentence, 
" And but for sin the smile of folly would not have been seen 
on the forehead of wisdom," and gained him for a season the 



WITH A CRITICISM OX HIS POETRY. IX 

nickname of "Monsoon PoUok." Such receptions Ravie not 
been unfrequently given to young men of genius in their first 
efforts, alike in colleges, divinity schools, and the public press. 
The weak sink before them ; the morbid and the vain are 
crippled by them ; the strong and determined persevere through 
and outlive them, and come at last to laugh heartily over 
their recollection. Thus it was with Thomson, with Byron, 
and with Pollok. It is possible, however, that, had worthy 
Mr Hamilton been more of the Chalmers or the Wilson, a 
poet himself, and a sympathizer with the fermenting brains 
of youthful bards, a manly and measured panegyric from his 
lips might have cheered the soul of his gifted pupil, and 
helped him on to that proper estimate of his own powers which 
is ever the best foundation for the settlement of the all- 
important question as to choosing a profession for life. 

He had previously shewn his juvenile pieces to some of his 
friends, who, proud of the rare prerogative of passing sentence 
upon MS. poetry, were " nothing if not critical," and detected 
or made innumerable faults. Thus poor Thomson found his 
hopes both as a poet and as a preacher threatened with 
simultaneous blight. In this dilemma, conscious all the more 
intensely, like Sheridan, that there " was something in him, 
and that, please God, it would come out," he turned his 
thoughts towards London, then, still more than now, the great 
mart of true literary talent. It was once generally supposed 
that he had by this time completed " Winter," and that he 
carried the MS. with him in his pocket. Evidence, however, 
has more recently been produced, from his letters to Crans- 
toun, which renders it certain that he wrote the poem in London, 
and wrote it, poor fellow ! to keep himself from the hands of 
his creditors. It is, indeed, possible that he may, while attend- 
ing the Divinity Hall, have scratched out a rude outline of the 
noble strain ; but it was under the pressure and with the rapid 
pen of poverty that the sketch was filled up and completed. 

To repair to the capital, he had many motives and en- 
couragements. He was invited to go there by Lady Grizel 
Baillie, eldest daughter of Sir Patrick Hume, fii'st Earl of 
Marchmont, a gentleman so famous in the history of the 



X LIFE OF JAMES THOMSON, 

Covenanters, and so infamous in that of Argjle. This lady 
has left a noble reputation. It was she who, when her 
father was hiding in a churchyard, used to visit him by 
night, and convey him food at the hazard of her own life. 
She had heard of Thomson, probably through tlie Eliotts, 
and had sent him a warm invitation to come to London. It 
seems that he had a strong desire to enter the English Church, 
where his flowery style would rather have been a recom- 
mendation, and trusted for patronage to the influence of Lady 
Baillie, and Mr Eliott, a brother of Sir Gilbert's. To this 
gentleman, his friend Cranstoun promised him a letter of in- 
troduction, and in March 1725 he set sail from Leitli, never 
to return to his native country again. Besides the letter to 
Eliott, which was forwarded after him to London, he had 
several other recommendations, which he had folded up care- 
lessly in a handkerchief, and which were stolen from him. 
His first want in London, we are told, was a pair of shoes. 
This is carefully recorded by Johnson, the rather as it was 
a predicament which once befel himself; it is very charac- 
teristic of those times, when Scotland was miserably poor, 
and when hundreds of her sons poured into the south, with 
no shirts on their backs or shoes on their feet, but well re- 
plenished with self-consequence and thickly stuffed with 
national pride. Shortly afterwards, he called on Mr Eliott, 
who received him graciously, but gave him very faint hopes 
of success in his favourite scheme of entering the Episcopal 
Church. Still Thomson continued to cherish the intention of 
becoming a clergyman in one or other of the national esta- 
blishments, and writes to Cranstoun — " The more I see of the 
vanity and wickedness of the world, the more I am inclined to 
that sacred ofiice." His friend Mallet, or Malloch, the son of 
an innkeeper in Crieff, Perthshire, had left Scotland a year or 
two before Thomson, and had already established himself as 
a gay man about town. He proceeded to initiate his young 
friend in the mysteries of London life. Thomson, however, 
had only dipped his shoe in its pollution, when tidings from 
Scotland arrested his career, — his mother died on the 10th of 
May 1725. He felt the loss more keenly, as he had of late 



WITH A CKITICISM ON HIS POETRY. XI 

somewhat relaxed in those moral and religious duties of which 
she had set the example as well as given the precept. In a 
poem, written on her death, immediately after it happened, he 
alludes very affectingly to their last parting on the shore at 
Leith. The shock of this event renewed and deepened his 
desne of entering into orders. 

Meanwhile, however, he must live, and the question, "how?" 
for some weeks, was more easy to ask than to answer. At 
length, through Lady Baillie, he obtained the tutorship of 
Lord Binning's eldest son, Thomas, then a boy of five, and 
residing ten miles from London, near East Barnet. This situa- 
tion he entered on in July 1725. In the following September, 
under the pressure of gTeat pecuniary difficulties, he began to 
write his " Winter ; " he was moved to this, too, by the influ- 
ences of the autumn, always to him, as to many poets, a season 
of peculiar inspiration. In spite of poverty, and the drudgery 
of teaching a child to read, and the disappointment of his 
clerical prospects, the "joy of Harvest " touched his soul, and it 
overflowed in the mighty, sonorous strains of the first and best 
of his " Seasons." The subject was suggested by a poem from 
the pen of his early patron, Mr Kiccaltoun, on Winter, which 
Thomson had lyingbeside him, and which, he says, "awakened" 
him. He finished the poem rapidly, but it had to go the 
usual rounds of a new work among the trade, and meet the 
usual bookselling reception — " Very elegant poem, but not in 
our line ; too much description in it ; a little wit would improve 
it; could not Mr Thomson write something in the style of 
Pope or Gay ? — that would be sure to take." Thomson had 
by this time secured a number of influential acquaintances, 
such as Duncan Forbes of Culloden, the Duke of Argyle, 
Su- R. Walpole, Dr Arbuthnot, Gay, and Pope, but it was 
mainly through Mallet that Miller at last consented to pubKsh 
his poem. It appeared in March 1726, Thomson having, a 
little before this, left his situation at Barnet, and gone to 
reside with Mallet, at the Duke of Montrose's country house, 
where his friend was tutor. There he went over the poem 
with Mallet, and greatly polished and improved it. He 
passed next to an academy in Little Tower Street, where, 



Xll LIFE OP JAMES THOMSON, 

for a montli, lie taught, among others, Lord George Graham, 
the youngest son of the Duke. 

I " Winter " at first received a reception as frigid as the name 
wuld possibly suggest. But, by and by, the notice of three 
gentlemen secm-ed its success, A Mr Whately, then reputed 
a good judge of poetiy, had dipped into it, admired, and ran 
everywhere sounding its praises ; Spence, the well-known 
friend of Pope, mentioned it with distinction in an " Essay on 
the Odyssey " which he was publishing at the time ; and Aaron 
Hill, who at that time enjoyed a reputation only inferior to 
Pope's, is now partly remembered by the fact that he wrote 
to Mallet, who had brought the poem under his notice, a 
letter of warm approval, which, shewn to the author, made 
him exclaim in reply, " The approbation of so supreme a 
genius, pleases, delights, ravishes me ! " One is reminded of 
Bmns's raptm-e, when he read poor Blacklock's letter. Yet, 
can we wonder that the head of a great poet, which had been 
covered with the deepest veil of obscm-ity, should, when 
smitten by the first solitary ray of its eternal glory, reel and 
rave for a season, under the unwonted lustre ? " Winter " 
had been dedicated to Sir Spencer Compton, who took no 
notice of it till he read in the newspapers a poem addressed by 
Hill to the author ; he then sent for him and gave him twenty 
guineas. Thus patronised, " Winter " ran through three edi- 
tions in the course of the year. It also multiplied the number 
of his friends ; he gained through it, especially, the friendship 
ofDr Eundle, Bishop of Deny, who recommended him to Lord 
Chancellor Talbot, afterwards a most valuable acquaintance. 

In 1727, having left Tower Street Academy and removed 
to Lancaster Court, Strand, he issued three new poems — his 
" Summer," his verses " on the Death of Sir Isaac Newton," 
and his "Britannia," a poem expressing his indignation at 
the inteiTuption of British trade by the Spaniards in America, 
and, by the strain of its politics, committing him to the Oppo- 
sition, and cutting him off from all hope of patronage from 
the Com-t. He also announced this year an Essay on De- 
scriptive Poetry, which never appeared. 

In 1728 he published his " Spring," dedicating it to the 



WITH A CRITICISM OS HIS POETRY. xiii 

Countess of Hertford, who consequently invited Thomson to 
her country seat. She found him, however, not only more 
"fat than bard beseems," but fonder of carousing with her 
lord than assisting the elegant studies of her ladyship, and he 
was never again asked. " Autumn " did not appear till 1730, 
when his poems were collected. 

In 1729, the drama of "Sophonisba" was acted with 
tolerable success. It is heavy as a whole ; but contains 
much that is striking, and more that is sonorous. It is 
chiefly now remembered for a line it no longer contains — 

« Sophonisba ! Sophonisba ! " 

and the famous parody thereupon, 

" Jemmy Thomson ! Jemmy Thomson ! " 

which made a town, where as yet Punch was not, merry for a 
whole season. 

In 1730 appeared the complete edition of the " Seasons," 
rounded off with that glorious Hymn which seems the essence 
of their beauty collected in a cloud of fragrance, and, by the 
breath of devotion, directed upwards to heaven. The same 
year, through the influence of Dr Eundle, Thomson was 
chosen to accompany the eldest son of the future Lord Chan- 
cellor Talbot on his travels, and spent accordingly nearly two 
years upon the Continent. This seems to have been one of 
the happiest portions of Thomson's life. He saw most of the 
scenes, pictures, statues, &c., usually seen by travellers in 
France and Italy, and seems to have surveyed them with a 
certain languid admiration characteristic of his temperament. 
The same objects which infused sublime awe into the soul of 
Milton, and which stirred Byron into passionate rapture, 
threw Thomson into a state of dreamy delight, in which, un- 
like Lady Macbeth, his eyes were half shut, but their sense 
was open. He was not o^e of those ti-avellers who go from P 
Dan to Beersheba and find all ban-en ; nor one of those who 
are perpetually " exclaiming," and ready to explode with the 
violent reality, or still more violent affectation, of their feelings. 
He took things calmly j and the Ehine, and the Alps, and St 



XIV LIFE OF JAMES THOMSON, 

Peter's, and the two Gladiators, were allowed quietly to 
daguerreotype themselves upon his brain till the proper time 
for using them artistically should arrive. 

He returned to England in the end of 1731. During his 
travels he had meditated a great poem on " Liberty," and 
when he reached home he sat down laboriously to indite it. 
During its progress, his pupil, Mr Talbot, died, and Thomson 
raom'ued over him very sincerely and eloquently in his poem 
— the fii'st part of which appeared in December 1734, the 
second and third parts in the following year, and the fomth 
and fifth in 1736. It made very little impression upon the 
public, and has never become more popular than it was at 
first. About this time, Thomson's only brother, John, came 
to London to act as his amanuensis, but was seized with con- 
sumption, returned to Scotland, and died. 

In the same year that "Liberty" appeared, the Poet, 
through Lord Talbot, was appointed Secretary of Briefs to 
the Court of Chancery. This situation he retained till 1737, 
and dm-ing its continuance he was quite independent, rather 
indolent, but very kind to his two sisters in Edinburgh, Jean 
and Elizabeth, to whom he advanced money to set them up 
in a little milliner's shop. In 1737 the Lord Chancellor 
died ; and Thomson wrote a fine poem to his memory. He 
had many reasons to lament him. In him he lost his best 
friend, and his easy situation. He was cast once more upon 
the precarious waters of literatm-e. Soon after his patron's 
death, he was arrested for debt, and saved only through the 
generosity of Quin, the actor, from a spuuging-liouse ; and in 
1738 his tragedy of "Agamemnon," produced after many 
vexatious delays, met with an unfavourable reception, to the 
great annoyance of the author, who sat perspiring with 
anxiety and chagrin during the representation. In 1739 
another tragedy from his pen, entitled " Edward and Eleo- 
nora," was ofiered to the stage, but was rejected owing to the 
pohtical allusions with which it abounded. One of the Minis 
terial writers, referring to it, said, with some humoui-, that 
Thomson had taken " a ' Liberty ' which was not agreeable 
to ' Britannia' in any ' Season.' " 



WITH A CEITICISM ON HIS POETRY. XV 

In 1740, lie prefaced a new edition of Milton's " Areopa- 
gitica." From that period his pen continued idle till 1745, 
■with the exception of the Masque of " Alfred," which was 
written in 1740 at the command of the Prince of Wales, and 
performed at Clifden, to a select audience, with great ap- 
plause. The famous song, " Kule Britannia," was a portion 
of this Masque ; although some have claimed it as Mallet's 
production, who was conjoined with Thomson in getting up 
the whole. 

Through Prince Frederick (who gave him a pension of 
£100 per annum till his own death) he became intimate with 
Lord Lyttelton, and this amiable nobleman remained his 
steadfast patron and friend to the last. About the year 1744 
Thomson took up house in Kew Lane, Richmond, and formed 
an acquaintance with the Amanda of the " Seasons," a Miss 
Young, of Richmond, of whom he was deeply enamoured. 
Nothing, however, resulted fi-om the intimacy. She was after- 
wards married to Admiral Campbell. 

In 1744 Lord Lyttelton procured him the post of Surveyor- 
General of the Leeward Islands, the profits of which were 
£300 a-year. It was a sinecure, and he enjoyed it till his 
death. In 1745, " Tancred and Sigismunda " was enacted 
with considerable applause. Part of 1745 and 1746 was 
spent at Hagley Park with Lord Lyttelton. In 1747 he 
visited the Leasowes, and became acquainted with Shenstone. 
In 1748 his " Castle of Indolence," which had been long on 
the stocks, appeared, and met with a very warm reception. 
His tragedy of " Coriolanus," too, was nearly ready, but 
certain circumstances prevented its appearance till after its 
author's death. 

That was very sudden. In a journey fi-om London to Kew, 
he had, after heating himself with walking, imprudently taken 
a boat to convey him to his home ; the evening air of the 
river chilled him, and next morning he found himself in a 
high fever. In a few days he rallied, but the exposure of 
himself one night to the dews brought on a relapse, and on the 
2 7th August 1 748 he breathed his last. It is consoling to hope, 
from Lord Lyttelton's Correspondence, that, whatever had been 



Xvi LIFE OP JAMES THOMSON, 

his personal errors or sceptical moods of soul, he died a Chris- 
tian — saying in effect, " Lord, I believe ; help thou mine un- 
belief." He was bmicd in Eichmond chui-chyard, and in 1762 
a monument was erected to him in Westminster Abbey. 

No one was ever more cordially beloved. He seems to 
have been a being totally destitute of malice or guile, firm in 
his attacliments, generous to his friends and foes alike ; and 
his very indolence and other weaknesses were pardoned be- 
cause they were liis. 

A certain careless gi-eatness is the principal element of his 
genius. He was, as Coleridge truly said, " rather a great than 
a good poet." Except in passages of the " Castle of Indo- 
lence," there is little finish or true polish about his poetry. 
He did, indeed, labour much at the file, but it was seldom 
under the presence of a high ideal of Art ; and his alterations, 
like those of John Foster, were often anything but improve- 
ments. His great power lay in his deep, glowing, childlike 
enthusiasm for nature, and in the fulness with which he retained 
this on to mature manhood ; so that, while in understanding 
he was thirty, in freshness of feeling he was only thirteen. 
He excelled more in the wide landscape view, than in the 
cabinet picture or the miniature. He was better at describing 
the Ton-id Zone than a lady's toilet — coping with the aggre- 
gate terrors of Winter than telling a tale of individual woe. 
He is more a sublime and sensuous, than he is a refined, spiri- 
tualized, or beautiful poet. He resembles rather Byron in all 
but his elasticity, and the fierce and savage nature that bm-ned 
in him, than such poets as Shelley, who seem half abstracted 
from earth, and to converse more with its hovering shadows 
than with its solid substance. 

The " Seasons " was his favourite, and is probably his 
best work. It contains, indeed, some sounding nonsense, 
and a great deal of description that misses its mark, and 
Bti-ays aimless and bookless as the dishevelled down of the 
thistle. But, on the other hand, what broad, large pictures 
constantly occur, blended with occasional touches so felicitous 
and exquisitely true to nature ! His knowledge of the theme 
80 extensive and unaffectedly accurate — his love for it so 



WITH A CKITICISM ON HIS POETRY. XVlI 

enthusiastic and so catholic! Wherever a sun shines, or a 
green field expands, or a mountain checks, to glorify the land- 
scape, there Thomson is at home ; and Nova Zembla and 
Cathay, California and Japan, are alike to his all-emhracing 
genius. 

" The Castle of Indolence," more thoroughly complete, more 
delicately finished, and aspiring to a certain plot and story, 
displays more of the artist, with very little less of the poet, 
than the " Seasons." It is, certainly, the sweetest piece of 
poetic seduction in the world. No hymn to Sleep ever was so 
soft — no " dream within a dream," of rest beyond the dream- 
ing land, was ever so subtle. 

" Britannia," " To the Memory of Lord Talbot," and 
" To the Memory of Sir Isaac Newton," are three strains of 
kindi-ed although various merit. All have much volubility 
of language, sustained pomp, and occasional beauties. The 
third alone we think entirely worthy of Thomson. It 
ranks along with the second sermon of Dr Chalmers's Astro- 
nomical Discourses, as one of the most glowing panegyrics 
passed upon that great man, who reminds us always, in his 
simplicity and his achievements, of the first rude shape of the 
telescope — at once so plain, and yet shewing and prophesying 
so much. The greatest sentence in this poem is — 

** Have ye not listened while lie hound the Suns 
And Planets to their spheres V 

Yet it yields to a line in the " Seasons," where he calls 
Science — 

" Mother severe of infinite ddigMsP 

'^ Liberty" exhibits Thomson in a false position. He was 
not the man to sing of that 

" Lord, of the lion heart and eagle eye." 

He was too lazy and too luxurious. We see him perspiring 
at his work, in a hot summer day, with his coat ofi", and 
occasionally napping in the course of his lucubrations. And 
yet, clumsy and tedious as portions of this poem are, it has 
noble passages, and its paintings of historical events are 



XVlll 



LIFE OF JAMES THOMSON. 



often in spirit and in language worthy of the themes and of 
the bard. Let none sneer at " Liberty" till they have read 
it ; and if, during the operation, they may sometimes sleep, yet 
assuredly at the close of it they will be ashamed any longer 
to sneer. 

We regret we cannot give any specimens of Thomson's 
letters, as in them we have a further insight into his charac- 
ter. They shew him in a new aspect, — as the affectionate 
brother, the steadfast friend, the acute observer of human 
nature — no less certainly than one of our most genuine and 
popular poets. 




CONTENTS. 



THE SEASONS:— paob 

Spring .,,.,-.. 1 

Summer ........ 87 

Autumn ........ 92 

Winter ........ 133 

A Hymn . . . , . . . , 165 . 

LIBERTY:— 

Parti. Ancient AND Modern Italy Compared . , 169 

II. Greece . . 182 

III. Rome 198 

JV. Britain 217 

V. The Prospect . . . . . . 255 

THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE :— 

Canto 1 279 

II. 805 

Poem to the Memory of Sm Isaac Newton . . . 883 

Britannia ......... 340 

Poem to the Memory of the Right Honourable the Lord 

Talbot 350 



XX 



CONTENTS. 



Poems on Se^tsr^il Occasioxs : 


— 










PA'>E 


A Paraphrase ou the Latter Part of the Sixth Chapter 


of St Matthew 


361 


Hymn on Solitude . 










362 


To the Rev. Mr Murdoch . 










364 


Epitaph on Miss Stanley . 










864 


On the Death of Mr Aikman 










365 


Song 










366 


Song 












366 


Song 












367 


Song . , . . 












368 


Song . 












368 


Ode to Seraphiaa . 












369 


Ode . . . 












370 


Ode on -bolus's Earp 












371 


Ode . . . 












872 




i^Xl'i^ 



'^:-y:'d\m^¥\ 



kv i. 



Vl. 



4 






^-/ 



T 



^■^" 



A*^ 



"■*f^^ 



^M -t 's- 



>^>' 
K- >. 



I'-i-V- ■% 



f>/ 






■3''', 



://„ 



.^ 



ii^Jir, 






Wl£„'%3'" 



i/' 



y/it 



5< 



\*f- 



^u 




SPRING. 



THE ARGUMENT. 

The subject proposed. Inscribed to the Countess of Hertford. The Season 
is described as it affects the various parts of Nature, ascending from the 
lower to the higher ; -with digressions arising from the subject. Its influ- 
ence on inanimate Matter, on Vegetables, on brute Animals, and last on 
Man. Concluding with a dissuasive from the wild and irregular passion 
of Love, opposed to that of a pure and happy kind. 

Come, gentle Spring, ethereal mildness, come ; 
And from the bosom of jon dropping cloud. 
While music wakes around, veil'd in a shower 
Of shadowing roses, on our plains descend. 

Hertford, fitted or to shine in courts 
With unaffected grace, or walk the plain 
With innocence and meditation join'd . 
In soft assemblage, listen to mj song, 
Which thj own Season paints ; when Nature all 
Is blooming and benevolent, like thee. '^^ 

And see where surlj Winter passes off. 
Far to the north, and calls his ruffian blasts : 
His blasts obey, and quit the howling hill, 
The shatter'd forest, and the ravag'd vale ; 
While softer gales succeed, at whose kind touch- 
Dissolving snows in livid torrents lost. 
The mountains lift their green heads to the sky. 

As yet the trembling year is unconfirm'd, 
And Winter oft at eve resumes the breeze, 

A 



2 SPRING. 

Chills tlie pale morn, and bids bis diiving sleets 20 

Deform tbe day deliglitless : so tbat scarce 
Tbe bittern knows his time, with bill engulf'd 
To shake the sounding marsh ; or from the shore 
The plovers when to scatter o'er the heath, 
And sing their wild notes to the listening waste. 

At last from Aries rolls the bounteous sun, 
And the bright Bull receives him. Then no more 
Th' expansive atmosphere is cramp'd with cold ; 
But, full of life and vivifying soul, 

Lifts the light clouds sublime, and spreads them thin, 30 
Fleecy and white, o'er all-surrounding heaven. 

Forth fly the tepid airs ; and unconfin'd, 
Unbinding earth, the moving softness strays. 
Joyous, th' impatient husbandman perceives 
Relenting Nature, and his lusty steers 
Drives from their stalls, to where the well-us'd plough 
Lies in the furrow, loosen'd from the frost. 
There, unrefusing, to the harness'd yoke 
They lend their shoulder, and begin their toil, 
Cheer'd by the simple song and soaring lark. 40 

Meanwhile incumbent o'er the shining share 
The master leans, removes th' obstructing clay. 
Winds the whole work, and sidelong lays the glebe. 

White through the neighb'ring fields the sower stalks, 
With measur'd step ; and liberal throws the grain 
Into the faithful bosom of the around : 
The harrow follows harsh, and shuts the scene. 

Be gi-acious. Heaven ! for now laborious Man 
Has done his part. Ye fostering breezes, blow ! 
Ye softening dcM's, ye tender showers, descend ! so 

And temper all, thou world-reviving sun, 
Into the perfect year ! Nor ye who live 
In luxury a]id case, in pomp and pride, 



SPRING. 3 

Think these lost themes unworthy of your ear ; 54 

Such themes as these the rural Maro sung 

To wide imperial Rome, in the full height 

Of elegance and taste, by Greece refin'd. 

In ancient times, the sacred plough employed 

The kings, and awful fathers of mankind : 

And some, with whom compar'd your insect-tribes 60 

Are but the beings of a summer's day, 

Have held the scale of empire, rul'd the storm 

Of mighty war ; then, with victorious hand, 

Disdaining little delicacies, seiz'd 

The plough, and greatly independent scorn'd 

All the vile stores Corruption can bestow. 

Ye generous Britons, venerate the plough ; 
And o'er your hills, and long withdrawing vales, 
Let Autumn spread his treasures to the sun, 
Luxuriant and unbounded : as the Sea, 70 

Far through his azure turbulent domain. 
Your empire owns, and from a thousand shores 
Wafts all the pomp of life into your ports ; 
So with superior boon may your rich soil. 
Exuberant, Nature's better blessings pour 
O'er every land, the naked nations clothe, 
And be th' exhaustless granary of a world ! 

Nor only through the lenient air this change, 
Delicious, breathes : the penetrative Sun, 
His force deep-darting to the dark retreat so 

Of vegetation, sets the steaming Power 
At large, to wander o'er the verdant earth. 
In various hues ; but chiefly thee, gay Green ! 
Thou smiling Nature's universal robe ! 
United hght and shade! where the sight dwells 
With growing strength, and ever-new delight. 

From the moist meadow to the wither'd hill, 



4 SPRING. 

Led bj" the breeze, the vivid verdure runs, 88 

And s^yells, and deepens, to the cherish'd ejc. 

The hawthorn whitens ; and the juicy groves 

Put forth their buds, unfolding bj degrees, 

Till the whole leafy forest stands displayed 

In full luxuriance to the sighing gales ; 

Where the deer rustle through tlie twining brake, 

And the birds sing conceal'd. At once array'd 

In all the colours of the flushing year, 

By Nature's swift and secret working hand, 

The garden glows, and fills the liberal air 

With lavish fragrance ; wliile the promis'd fruit 

Lies yet a little embryo, unperceiv'd, loo 

Within its crimson folds. Now from the town 

Buried in smoke, and sleep, and noisome damps. 

Oft let me wander o'er the dewy fields. 

Where freshness breathes, and dash the trembling drops 

From the bent bush, as through the verdant maze 

Of sweet-briar hedges I pursue my walk ; 

Or taste the smell of dairy ; or ascend 

Some eminence, Auqusta,i in thy plains, 

And see the country, far diffus'd ai'ound, 

One boundless blush, one white-empurpled shower no 

Of mingled blossoms ; where the raptur'd eye 

Hurries from joy to joy, and, hid beneath 

The fair profusion, yellow Autumn spies : 

If, brush'd from Russian wilds, a cutting gale 
Rise not, and scatter from his humid wings 
The clammy mildew; or, dry-blowing, breathe 
Untimely frost ; before whose baleful blast 
The full-blown Spring through all her foliage shrinks, 
Joyless and dead, a wide-dejected waste. 
For oft, engender'd by the hazy north, 

• ' Augusta : ' ancient name of London. 



SPRING. ' 5 

Myriads on myriads, insect armies M^aft 121 

Keen in the poison'd breeze ; and wasteful eat. 

Through buds and bark, into the blacken'd core, 

Their eager way. A feeble race ! yet oft 

The sacred sons of vengeance ; on whose course 

Corrosive famine waits, and kills the year. 

To check this plague, the skilful farmer chaff 

And blazing straw before his orchard burns ; 

Till, all involv'd in smoke, the latent foe 

From every cranny sujBfocated falls : 130 

Or scatters o'er the blooms the pungent dust 

Of pepper, fatal to the frosty tribe : 

Or, when th' envenom'd leaf begins to curl, 

"With sprinkled water drowns them in their nest ; 

Nor, while they pick them up with busy bill, 

The little trooping birds unwisely scares. 

Be patient, swains ; these cruel-seeming winds 
Blow not in vain. Far hence they keep repress'd 
Those deep'ning clouds on clouds, surcharg'd with rain, 
That o'er the vast Atlantic hither borne, 140 

In endless train, would quench the Summer blaze, 
And, cheerless, drown the crude unripen'd year. 

The North-east spends his rage, and now shut up 
Within his iron cave, th' effusive South 
Warms the wide air, and o'er the void of heaven 
Breathes the big clouds with vernal showers distent. 
At first a dusky wreath they seem to rise. 
Scarce staining ether ; but by fast degrees, 
In heaps on heaps the doubling vapour sails 
Along the loaded sky, and mingling deep 150 

Sits on th' horizon round a settled gloom : 
Not such as wintry storms on mortals shed, 
Oppressing life ; but lovely, gentle, kind, 
And full of every hope and every joy, 



6 SPRING. 

The wish of Nature. Gradual sinks the breeze 165 

Into a perfect calm ; that not a breath 

Is heard to quiver through the closing woods, 

Or rustling turn the many twinkling leaves 

Of aspen tall. Th' uncurling floods, difFus'd 

In glassy breadth, seem through delusive lapse ico 

Forgetful of their course. Tis silence all. 

And pleasing expectation. Herds and flocks 

Drop the dry sprig, and mute-imploring, eye 

The fiilling verdure. Hush'd in short suspense, 

The plumy people streak their wings with oil. 

To throw the lucid moisture trickling off; 

And wait th' approaching sign to strike, at once. 

Into the general choir. Even mountains, vales, 

And forests seem, impatient, to demand 

The promis'd sweetness. Man superior walks iro 

Amid the glad creation, musing praise. 

And looking lively gratitude. At last. 

The clouds consign their treasures to the fields ; 

And, softly shaking on the dimpled pool 

Prelusive drops, let aU their moisture flow, 

In large efiiision, o'er the freshen'd world. 

The stealing shower is scarce to patter heard. 

By such as wander through the forest walks. 

Beneath the umbrageous multitude of leaves. 

But who can hold the shade, while Heaven descends 

In universal bounty, shedding herbs, isi 

And fruits, and flowers, on Nature's ample lap 1 

Swift fancy fir'd anticipates their growth : 

And, while the milky nutriment distils. 

Beholds the kindling country colour round. 

Thus all day long the full-distended clouds 
Indulge their genial stores, and well-shower'd earth 
Is deep enrich'd with vegetable life ; 



SPRING. 7 

Till, in the western sky, the downward Sun i89 

Looks out, effulgent, from amid the flush 

Of broken clouds, gaj-shifting to his beam. 

The rapid radiance instantaneous strikes 

Th' illumin'd mountain, through the forest streams, 

Shakes on the floods, and in a yellow mist, 

Far smoking o'er th' interminable plain. 

In twinkling myriads lights the dewy gems. 

Moist, bright, and green, the landscape laughs around. 

Pull swell the woods ; their very music wakes, 

Mix'd in wild concert with the warblino; brooks 

Increas'd, the distant bleatings of the hills, 200 

And hollow lows responsive from the vales, 

AVhence blending all the sweeten'd Zephyr springs. 

Meantime, refracted from yon eastern cloud. 

Bestriding earth, the grand ethereal bow 

Shoots up immense ; and every hue unfolds, 

In fair proportion running from the red, 

To where the violet fades into the sky. 

Here, awful Newton, the dissolving clouds 

Form, fronting on the Sun, thy show'ry prism ; 

And to the sage-instructed eye unfold 210 

The various twine of light, by thee disclos'd 

From the white mingling maze. Not so the boy ; 

He wond'ring views the bright enchantment bend, 

Delightful o'er the radiant fields, and runs 

To catch the falling glory ; but amaz'd 

Beholds th' amusive arch before him fly, 

Then vanish quite away. Still night succeeds, 

A soften'd shade, and saturated earth 

Awaits the morning beam, to give to light, 

Rais'd through ten thousand different plastic tubes, 220 

The balmy treasures of the former day. 

Then spring the living herbs, profusely wild. 



8 SPRING. 

O'er all the deep green earth, beyond the pow'r 223 

Of botanist to number up their tribes : 

Whether he steals along the lonely dale, 

In silent search ; or through the forest, rank 

With what the dull incurious weeds account, 

Bursts his blind way ; or climbs the mountain-rock, 

Fired by the nodding verdure of its brow. 

With such a lib'ral hand has Nature flung 230 

Their seeds abroad, blown them about in winds, 

lunumerous mix'd them with the nursing mould. 

The moistening current, and prolific rain. 

But who their virtues can declare 1 who pierce, 
With vision pure, into these secret stores 
Of health, and life, and joy 1 the food of Man, 
While yet he liv'd in innocence, and told 
A length of golden years ; unflesh'd in blood ; 
A stranger to the savage arts of life, 
Death, rapine, carnage, surfeit, and disease ; 240 

The lord, and not the tyrant, of the world. 

The first fresh dawn then wak'd the gladden 'd race 
Of uncorrupted Man, nor blush'd to see 
The sluggard sleep beneath its sacred beam : 
For their light slumbers gently fum'd away ; 
And up they rose as vigorous as the Sun, 
Or to the culture of the willing glebe, 
Or to the cheerful tendance of the flock. 
Meantime the song went round ; and dance and sport, 
Wisdom and friendly talk, successive, stole 250 

Their hours away : while in the rosy vale 
Love breath'd his infant sighs, from anguish fi'ee. 
And full replete with bliss ; save the sweet pain. 
That inly thrilling, but exalts it more. 
Nor yet injurious act, nor surly deed, 
Was known among those happy sons of Heaven : 



SPRING, 9 

For reason and beneyolence were law. 257 

Harmonious Nature too look'd smiling on. 

Clear shone the skies, cool'd with eternal gales 

And balmj spirit all. The youthful Sun 

Shot his best rajs, and still the gracious clouds 

Dropp'd fatness down ; as o'er the swelling mead 

The herds and flocks, commixing, play'd secure. 

This when, emergent from the gloomy wood, 

The glaring lion saw, his horrid heart 

Was meeken'd, and he join'd his sullen joy. 

For music held the whole in perfect peace : 

Soft sigh'd the flute ; the tender voice was heard. 

Warbling the varied heart ; the woodlands round 

Applied their quire ; and winds and waters flow'd 270 

In consonance. Such were those prime of days. 

But now those white unblemish'd manners, whence * 
The fabling poets took their golden age, 
Are found no more amid these iron times, 
These dregs of life ! Now the distemper'd mind 
Has lost that concord of harmonious powers, f 
Which forms the soul of happiness ; and all 
Is ofi" the poise within : the passions all 
Have burst their bounds ; and Reason, half extinct, 
Or impotent, or else approving, sees 280 

The foul disorder. Senseless and deform'd, 
Convulsive Anger storms at large ; or pale, 
And silent, settles into fell Revenge. 
Base Envy withers at another's joy, ' 
And hates that excellence it cannot reach. ' - 
Desponding Fear, of feeble fancies full. 
Weak and unmanly, loosens every power. 
Even Love itself is bitterness of soul, 
A pensive anguish pining at the heart ; 
Or, sunk to sordid interest, feels no more 



10 SPRING. 

That noble wish, that never cloy'd desire, 29i 

Which, selfish joj disdaining, seeks alone 
To bless the dearer object of its flame. 
Hope sickens with extravagance ; and Grief, 
Of life impatient, into Madness sweUs, 
Or in dead silence wastes the weeping hours. 
These, and a thousand mixt emotions more. 
From ever-changing views of good and ill, 
Form'd infinitely various, vex the mind 
With endless storm : whence, deeply rankling, grows 
The partial thought, a listless unconcern, 301 

Cold, and averting from our neighbour's good ; 
Then dark disgust, and hatred, winding wiles, 
Coward deceit, and ruffian violence : 
At last, extinct each social feeling, feU 
And joyless inhumanity pervades 
And petrifies the heart. Nature disturb'd 
i Is deem'd, vindictive, to have chang'd her course. 

Hence, in old dusky time, a deluge came : 
When the deep-cleft disparting orb, that arch'd 3io 

The central waters round, impetuous rush'd. 
With universal burst, into the gulf. 
And o'er the high-pil'd hills of fractur'd earth 
Wide dash'd tlie waves, in undulation vast ; 
Till, from the centre to the streaming clouds, 
A shoreless ocean tumbled round the globe. 

The Seasons since have, with severer sway, 
Oppress'd a broken world : the Winter keen 
Shook forth his waste of snows ; and Summer shot 
His pestilential heats. Great Spring, before, 320 

Green'd all the year ; and fruits and blossoms blush'd, 
In social sweetness, on the self-same bough. 
Pure was the temperate air ; an even calm 
Perpetual reigned, save what the Zephyrs bland 



SPEINQ. 11 

Breath'd o'er the blue expanse : for then nor storms 325 

Were taught to blow, nor hurricanes to rage ; 

Sound slept the waters ; no sulphureous glooms 

Swell'd in the skj, and sent the lightning forth ; 

While sicklj damps, and cold autumnal fogs, 

Hung not, relaxing, on the springs of life. 330 

But now, of turbid elements the sport. 

From clear to cloudy tost, from hot to cold, 

And dry to moist, with inward-eating change. 

Our drooping days are dwindled down to naught. 

Their period finish'd ere 'tis well begun. 

And yet the wholesome herb neglected dies ; 
Though with the pure exhilarating soul 
Of nutriment and health, and vital powers. 
Beyond the search of art, 'tis copious blest. 
For, with hot ravin fir'd, ensanguin'd Man ^^ 340 

Is now' become the lion of the plain. 
And worse. The wolf, who from the nightly fold 
Fierce drags the bleating prey, ne'er drunk her milk, 
Nor wore her warming fleece : nor has the steer. 
At whose strong chest the deadly tiger hangs. 
E'er plow'd for him. They too are temper'd high, 
AVith hunger stung and wild necessity, 
Nor lodges pity in their shaggy breast. 
But Man, whom Nature form'd of milder clay, 
With every kind emotion in his heart, 350 

And taught alone to weep, — while from her lap 
She pours ten thousand delicacies, herbs. 
And fruits, as numerous as the drops of rain, 
Or beams that gave them birth, — shall he, fair form ! 
Who wears sweet smiles, and looks erect on Heaven, 
E'er stoop to mingle with the prowling herd. 
And dip his tongue in gore \ The beast of prey, 
Blood-stain'd, deserves to bleed : but you, ye flocks, 



12 SPRING. 

What have ye done ; ye peaceful people, what, 350 

To merit death 1 you, who have given us milk 

In luscious streams, and lent us your own coat 

Against the Winter's cold "? And the plain ox, 

That harmless, honest, guileless animal. 

In what has he offended '? he, whose toil. 

Patient and ever ready, clothes the land 

With all the pomp of harvest ; shall he bleed, 

And struggling groan beneath the cruel hands 

Even of the clown he feeds 1 and that, perhaps, 

To swell the riot of th' autumnal feast, 

Won by his labour 'i Thus the feeling heart sro 

Would tenderly suggest : but 'tis enough. 

In this late age, adventurous, to have touch'd 

Light on the numbers of the Samian sage.^ 

High Heaven forbids the bold presumptuous strain, 

Whose wisest will has fix'd us in a state 

That must not yet to pure perfection rise. 

Besides, who knows how, rais'd to higher life. 

From stage to stage the vital scale ascends 1 

Now when the first foul torrent of the brooks, 
Swell'd with the vernal rains, is ebb'd away, 380 

And, whitening, down their mossy tinctur'd stream 
Descends the billowy foam ; now is the time. 
While yet the dark-brown water aids the guile. 
To tempt the trout. The w^ell-dissembled fly, 
The rod fine-tapering with elastic spring, 
Snatch'd from the hoary steed the floating line, 
And all thy slender watery stores, prepare. 
But let not on thy hook the tortur'd worm, 
Convulsive, twist in agonising folds ; 
Which, by rapacious hunger swallow'd deep, 390 

Gives, as you tear it from the bleeding breast 

' ' Samian sage : ' Pythagoras. 



SPUING. 13 

Of the weak lielpless uncomplaining -wretch, 392 

Harsh pain and horror to the tender hand. 
When with his lively ray the potent Sun 
Has pierc'd the streams, and rous'd the finny race, 
Then, issuing cheerful, to thy sport repair ; 
Chief should the western breezes curling play. 
And light o'er ether bear the shadowy clouds. 
High to their fount, this day, amid the hills, 
And woodlands warbling round, trace up the brooks ; 
The next pursue their rocky-channell'd maze, 401 

Down to the river, in whose ample wave 
Their little Naiads love to sport at large. 
Just in the dubious point, where with the pool 
Is mix'd the trembling stream, or where it boils 
Around the stone, or from the hollow'd bank 
Reverted plays in undulating flow. 
There throw, nice-judging, the delusive fly ; 
And as you lead it round in artful curve, 
Witli eye attentive mark the springing game. 410 

Straight as above the surface of the flood 
They wanton rise, or urg'd by hunger leap. 
Then fix, with gentle twitch, the barbed hook : 
Some lightly tossing to the grassy bank. 
And to the shelving shore slow-dragging some, 
With various hand proportion'd to their force. 
If yet too young, and easily deceiv'd, 
A worthless prey scarce bends your pliant rod, 
Him, piteous of his youth and the short space 
He has enjoy'd the vital light of Heaven, 420 

Soft disengage, and back into the stream 
The speckled captive throw. But should you lure 
From his dark haunt, beneath the tangled roots 
Of pendent trees, the monarch of the brook, 
Behoves you then to ply your finest art. 



14 SPRING. 

Long time he, following cautious, scans the fly ; 426 

And oft attempts to seize it, but as oft 

The dimpled water speaks his jealous fear. 

At last, while haply o'er the shaded sun 

Passes a cloud, he desperate takes the death, 

With sullen plunge. At once he darts along, 

Deep-struck, and runs out all the lengthen'd line ; 

Then seeks the farthest ooze, the sheltering weed, 

The cavern'd bank, his old secure abode ; 

And flies aloft, and flounces round the pool. 

Indignant of the guile. With yielding hand, 

That feels him still, yet to his furious course 

Gives way, you, now retiring, following now 

Across the stream, exhaust his idle rage : 

Till floating broad upon his breathless side, 44o 

And to his fate abandon'd, to the shore 

You gaily drag your unresisting prize. 

Thus pass the temperate hours : but when the Sun 
Shakes from his noon-day throne the scattering clouds. 
Even shooting listless languor through the deeps ; 
Then seek the bank where flowering elders crowd, 
Where scatter'd wild the lily of the vale 
Its balmy essence breathes, where cowslips hang 
The dewy head, where purple violets lurk. 
With all the lowly children of the shade : 450 

Or lie reclin'd beneath yon spreading ash. 
Hung o'er the steep ; whence, borne on liquid wing. 
The sounding culver shoots ; or where the hawk. 
High, in the beetling clifi', his eyry builds. 
There let the classic page thy fancy lead 
Through rural scenes ; such as the Mantuan swain 
Paints in the matchless harmony of song. 
Or catch thyself the landscape, gliding swift 
Athwart imagination's vivid eye : 



SPEING. 15 

Or bj the vocal woods and waters luU'd, 46o 

And lost in lonely musing, in the dream, 

Confus'd, of careless solitude, where mix 

Ten thousand wandering images of things, 

Soothe every gust of passion into peace ; 

All but the swellings of the soften'd heart. 

That waken, not disturb, the tranquil mind. 

Behold yon breathing prospect bids the Muse 
Throw all her beauty forth. But who can paint 
Like Nature t Can imagination boast, ' 
Amid its gay creation, hues like hers '? 470 

Or can it mix them with that matchless skill, 
And lose them in each other, as appears 
In every bud that blows ? If fancy then ' " 
Unequal fails beneath the pleasing task. 
Ah, what shall language do 1 ah, where find words 
Ting'd with so many colours ; and whose power. 
To life approaching, may perfume my lays 
With that fine oil, those aromatic gales, 
That inexhaustive flow continual round '? 

Yet, though successless, will the toil delight. 48o 

Come then, ye virgins and ye youths, whose hearts 
Have felt the raptures of refining love ; 
And thou, Amanda, come, pride of my song ! 
Form'd by the Graces, loveliness itself ! 
Come with those downcast eyes, sedate and sweet, 
Those looks demure, that deeply pierce the soul. 
Where, with the light of thoughtful reason mix'd, 
Shines lively fancy and the feeling heart : 
come ! and while the rosy-footed May 
Steals blushing on, together let us tread 490 

The morning dews, and gather in their prime 
Fresh-blooming flowers, to grace thy braided hair. 
And thy lov'd bosom that improves their sweets. 



16 SPRING. 

See, where the "winding vale its lavish stores, 494 

/ Irriguous, spreads ! See, how the lilj drinks 
The latent rill, scarce oozing through the grass, 
Of growth luxuriant ; or the humid bank. 
In fair profusion, decks I Long let us walk, 
Where the breeze blows from jon extended field 
Of blossom'd beans. Arabia cannot boast 500 

A fuller gale of joj, than, liberal, thence 
Breathes through the sense, and takes the ravish'd soul. 
» Nor is the mead unworthy of thj foot. 
Full of fresh verdure, and unnumber'd flowers, 
» The negligence of Nature, wide, and wild ; 

Where, undisguis'd by mimic Art, she spreads 
^ . Unbounded beauty to the roving eye. 
Here their delicious task the fervent bees, 
In swarming millions, tend : around, athwart. 
Through the soft air, the busy nations fly, 510 

Cling to the bud, and, with inserted tube. 
Suck its pure essence, its ethereal soul ; 
And oft, with bolder wing, they soaring dare 
The purple heath, or where tlie wild thyme grows, 
And yellow load them with the luscious spoil. 

At length the finish'd garden to the view 
Its vistas opens, and its alleys green. 
Snatch'd through the verdant maze, the hurried eye 
Distracted wanders ; now the bowery walk 
Of covert close, where scarce a speck of day 520 

Falls on the lengthen'd gloom, protracted sweeps : 
Now meets the bending sky ; the river now 
Dimpling along, the breezy ruffled lake, 
The forest darkening round, the glittering spire, 
Th' ethereal mountain, and the distant main. 
But why so far excursive "? when at hand, 
Along these blushing borders, bright with dew, 



SPRING. 1 7 

And in yon mingled wilderness of flowers, 528 

Fair-handed Spring unbosoms every grace ; 

Throws out the snow-drop and the crocus first ; 

The daisy, primrose, violet darkly blue. 

And polyanthus of unnumber'd dyes ; 

The yellow wall-flower, stain'd with iron brown ; 

And lavish stock, that scents the garden round : 

From the soft wing of vernal breezes shed, 

Anemouics ; auriculas, enrich'd 

With shining meal o'er all tlieir velvet leaves ; 

And full ranunculus, of glowing red. 

Then comes the tulip race, where Beauty plays 

Her idle freaks ; from family diffus'd 640 

To family, as flies the father-dust. 

The varied colours run ; and, while they break 

On the charm'd eye, th' exulting florist marks. 

With secret pride, the wonders of his hand. 

No gradual bloom is wanting ; from the bud. 

First-born of Spring, to Summer's musky tribes : 

Nor hyacinths, of purest virgin white. 

Low bent, and blushing inward ; nor jonquils, 

Of potent fragrance ; nor Narcissus fair, 

As o'er the fabled fountain hanging still ; 550 

Nor broad carnations, nor gay-spotted pinks ; 

Nor, shower'd from every bush, the damask-rose. 

Infinite numbers, delicacies, smells. 

With hues on hues expression cannot paint, 

The breath of Nature, and her endless bloom. 

Hail, Source of Being ! Universal Soul 
Of heaven and earth ! Essential Presence, hail ! 
To Thee I bend the knee ; to Thee my thoughts, 
Continual, climb ; who, with a master-hand. 
Hast the great whole into perfection touch'd. 560 

By Thee the various vegetative tribe?!, 

B 



18 SPKING. 

Wrapt in a filmj net, and clad with leaves, 502 

Draw the live ether, and imbibe the dew : 

Bj Thee dispos'd into congenial soils, 

Stands each attractive plant, and sucks, and swells 

The juicj tide ; a twining mass of tubes. 

At Thy command the vernal Sun awakes 

The torpid sap, detruded to the root 

Bj wintrj winds ; that now in fluent dance, 

And lively fermentation, mounting, spreads 670 

All this innumerous-colour'd scene of things. 

As rising from the vegetable world 
Mj theme ascends, with equal wing ascend, 
Mj panting Muse ; and hark, how loud the woods 
Invite jou forth in all your gayest trim ! 
Lend me your song, ye nightingales ! oh pour 
The mazy-running soul of melody 
Into my varied verse ! while I deduce, 
From the first note the hollow cuckoo sings, 
The symphony of Spring, and touch a theme 58o 

Unknown to fame — the passion of the groves. 

When first the soul of love is sent abroad, 
Warm through the vital air, and on the heart 
Harmonious seizes, the gay troops begin. 
In gallant thought, to plume the painted wing ; 
And try again the long-forgotten strain, 
At first faint-warbled. But no sooner grows 
The soft infusion prevalent, and wide, 
Than, all alive, at once their joy o'erflows 
t In music unconfin'd. Up springs the lark, 590 

ShriU-voiced, and loud, the messenger of morn : 
Ere yet the shadows fly, he mounted sings 
Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts 
♦ Calls up the tuneful nations. Every copse 
Deep-tangled, tree irregular, and bush 



SPRING. 19 

Bending -^itli dewj moisture, o'er the heads 596 

Of the coy quiristers that lodge within, «^' 

Are prodigal of harmony. The thrush 

And wood-lark, o'er the kind-contending throng 

Superior heard, run through the sweetest length 

Of notes ; when hstening Philomela deigns 

To let them joy, and purposes, in thought 

Elate, to make her night excel their day. 

The blackbird whistles from the thorny brake ; 

The mellow bullfinch answers from the grove ; 

Nor are the linnets, o'er the flow' ring furze 

Pour'd out profusely, silent. Join'd to these 

Innumerous songsters, in the freshening shade 

Of new-sprung leaves, their modulations mix 

Mellifluous. The jay, the rook, the daw, eio 

And each harsh pipe, discordant heard alone. 

Aid the full concert : while the stock-dove breathes 

A melancholy murmur through the whole. 

'Tis love creates their melody, and all 
This waste of music is the voice of love ; 
That even to birds, and beast, the tender arts 
Of pleasing teaches. Hence the glossy kind 
Try every winning way inventive love 
Can dictate, and in courtship to their mates 
Pour forth their little souls. First, wide around, «s'2'> 
With distant awe, in airy rings they rove. 
Endeavouring by a thousand tricks to catch 
The cunning, conscious, half-averted glance 
Of their regardless charmer. Should she seem 
Softening the least approvance to bestow, 
Their colours burnish, and, by hope inspir'd, 
They brisk advance ; then, on a sudden struck. 
Retire disorder'd ; then again approach ; 



20 SPRING. 

In fond rotation spread the spotted wing, 629 

And shiver every feather with desire. 

Connubial leagues agreed, to the deep woods 
They haste away, all as their fancy leads. 
Pleasure, or food, or secret safety prompts ; 
That Nature's great command may be obey'd : 
Nor all the sweet sensations they perceive 
Indulg'd in vain. Some to the holly-hedge 
Nestling repair, and to the thicket some ; 
Some to the rude protection of the thorn 
Commit their feeble offspring : the cleft tree 
Offers its kind concealment to a few, 64o 

Their food its insects, and its moss their nests. 
Others apart far in the grassy dale. 
Or roughening waste, their humble texture weave. 
But most in woodland solitudes delight, 
In unfrequented glooms, or shaggy banks, 
Steep, and divided by a babbling brook. 
Whose murmurs soothe them all the live-long day, 
"When by kind duty fix'd. Among the roots 
Of hazel, pendent o'er the plaintive stream, 
They frame the first foundation of their domes : eso 

Dry sprigs of trees, in artful fabric laid. 
And bound with clay together. Now 'tis naught 
But restless hurry through the busy air, 
Beat by unnumber'd wings. The swallow sweeps 
The slimy pool, to build his hanging house 
Intent. And often, from the careless back 
Of herds and flocks, a thousand tugging bills 
Pluck hair and wool ; and oft, when unobserv'd. 
Steal from the barn a straw : till soft and warm, 
Clean and complete, their habitation grows. 660 

As thus the patient dam assiduous sits, 
Not to be tempted from her tender task. 



SPKING. 21 

Or bj sharp hunger, or bj smooth delight, 663 

Though the -whole loosen'd Spring around her blows, 

Her sympathising lover takes his stand 

High on th' opponent bank, and ceaseless sings 

The tedious time away ; or else supplies 

Her place a moment, while she sudden flits 

To pick the scanty meal. Th' appointed time 

With pious toil fulfill'd, the callow young, 67o 

Warm'd and expanded into perfect life, 

Their brittle bondage break, and come to light, 

A helpless family, demanding food 

With constant clamour. what passions then, 

What melting sentiments of kindly care, 

On the new parents seize ! Away they fly 

Aficctionate, and undesiring bear 

The most delicious morsel to their young ; 

Which equally distributed, again 

The search begins. Even so a gentle pair, esc 

By fortune sunk, but form'd of generous mould. 

And charm'd with cares beyond the vulgar breast, 

In some lone cot amid the distant woods, 

Sustain'd alone by providential Heav'n, 

Oft, as they weeping eye their infant train, 

Check their own appetites, and give them all. 

Nor toil alone they scorn ; exalting love, 
By the great Father of the Spring inspir d. 
Gives instant courage to the fearful race, 
And to the simple art. With stealthy wing, 690 

Should some rude foot their woody haunts molest, 
Amid a neighbouring bush they silent drop, 
And whirring thence, as if alarm'd, deceive 
Th' unfeeling schoolboy. Hence, around the head 
Of wandering swain, the white wing'd plover wheels 
Her sounding flight, and then du-ectly on 



22 SPRING. 

In long excursion skims tlie level lawn, 697 

To tempt him from her nest. The wild duck hence 
O'er the rough moss, and o'er the trackless waste 
The heath-hen flutters, (pious fraud !) to lead 
The hot pursuing spaniel far astraj. 

Be not the Muse asham'd here to bemoan 
Her brothers of the grove, by tyrant man 
Inhuman caught, and in the narrow cage 
From liberty confin'd, and boundless air. 
Dull are the pretty slaves, their plumage dull, 
Ragged, and all its brightening lustre lost ; 
Nor is that sprightly wildness in their notes, 
Which, clear and vigorous, warbles from the beech. 
then, ye friends of love and love-taught song, 710 

Spare the soft tribes, this barbarous art forbear ; 
If on your bosom innocence can win, 
Music engage, or piety persuade ! 

But let not chief the nightingale lament 
Her ruin'd care, too delicately fram'd 
To brook the harsh confinement of the cage. 
Oft when, returning with her loaded bill, 
Th' astonish'd mother finds a vacant nest, 
By the hard hand of unrelenting clowns 
Robb'd, to the ground the vain provision falls ; 720 

Her pinions ruffle, and, low-drooping, scarce 
Can bear the mourner to the poplar shade ; 
Where, all abandon'd to despair, she sings 
Her sorrows through the night ; and, on the bough. 
Sole-sitting, still at every dying faU 
Takes up again her lamentable strain 
Of winding woe ; till, wide around, the woods 
Sigh to her song, and with her wail resound. 

But now the feather'd youth their former bounds, 
Ardent, disdain ; and, weighing oft their wings. 



SPRING. 23 

Demand the free possession of the skj. 73i 

This one glad office more, and then dissolves 

Parental love at once, now needless grown : 

Unlavish Wisdom never works in vain. 

'Tis on some evening, sunnj, grateful, mild, 

When naught but balm is breathing through the woods, 

With yellow lustre bright, that the new tribes 

Visit the spacious heavens, and look abroad 

On Nature's common, far as they can see. 

Or wing, their range and pasture. O'er the boughs 740 

Dancing about, still at the giddy verge 

Their resolution fails ; their pinions still, 

In loose libration stretch'd, to trust the void 

Trembling refuse : till down before them fly 

The parent-guides, and chide, exhort, command, 

Or push them off. The surging air receives 

The plumy burden ; and their self-taught wings 

Winnow the waving element. On ground 

Alighted, bolder up again they lead. 

Farther and farther on, the lengthening flight ; 750 

Till vanish'd every fear, and every power 

Rous'd into life and action, light in air 

Th' acquitted parents see their soaring race. 

And, once rejoicing, never know them more. 

High from the summit of a craggy clifi*. 
Hung o'er the deep, such as amazing frowns 
On utmost Kilda's^ shore, whose lonely race 
Resign the setting sun to Indian worlds. 
The royal eagle draws his vigorous young, 
Strong-pounc'd, and ardent with paternal fii'e. 760 

Now fit to raise a kingdom of their own. 
He drives them from his fort, the towering seat, 
For ages, of his empire ; which, in peace, 

^ ' Kilda : ' the farthest of the western islands of Scotland 



24 - SPRING. 

Unstain'd he holds, while many a league to sea 764 

He wings his course, and preys in distant isles. 

Should I my steps turn to the rural seat, 
Whose lofty elms and venerable oaks 
Invite the rook, who high amid the boughs. 
In early Spring, his airy city builds. 
And ceaseless caws amusive ; there, well-pleas'd, 770 
I might the various polity survey 
Of the mixt household kind. The careful hen 
Calls all her chirping family around. 
Fed and defended by the fearless cock ; 
Whose breast with ardour flames, as on he walks 
Graceful, and crows defiance. In the pond. 
The finely-checker'd duck, before her train, 
Rows garrulous. The stately-sailing swan 
Gives out his snowy plumage to the gale ; 
And, arching proud his neck, with oary feet 7 so 

Bears forward fierce, and guards his osier-isle, 
Protective of his young. The turkey nigh. 
Loud-threatening, reddens ; while the peacock spreads 
His every-colour'd glory to the sun. 
And swims in radiant majesty along. 
O'er the whole homely scene, the cooing dove 
Flies thick in amorous chase, and wanton rolls 
The glancing eye, and turns the changeful neck. 

While thus the gentle tenants of the shade 
Indulge their purer loves, the rougher world 790 

Of brutes, below, rush furious into flame 
And fierce desire. Through all his lusty veins 
The bull, deep-scorch'd, the raging passion feels. 
Of pasture sick, and negligent of food. 
Scarce seen, he wades among the yellow broom, 
While o'er his ample sides the rambling sprays 
Luxuriant shoot ; or through the mazy wood 



SPEING. 25 

Dejected wanders, nor th' enticing bud 798 

Crops, though it presses on his careless sense. 

And oft, in jealous madd'ning fancy wrapt, 

He seeks the fight ; and, idlj-butting, feigns 

His rival gor'd in every knotty trunk. 

Him should he meet, the bellowing war begins : 

Their eyes flash fury ; to the hoUow'd earth, 

Whence the sand flies, they mutter bloody deeds, 

And groaning deep, th' impetuous battle mix : 

While the fair heifer, balmy-breathing, near. 

Stands kindling up their rage. The trembling steed. 

With this hot impulse seiz'd in every nerve. 

Nor heeds the rein, nor hears the sounding thong ; 8io 

Blows are not felt ; but tossing high his head. 

And by the well-known joy to distant plains 

Attracted strong, all wild he bursts away ; 

O'er rocks, and woods, and craggy mountains flies ; 

And, neighing, on the aerial summit takes 

Th' exciting gale ; then, steep-descending, cleaves 

The headlong torrents foaming down the hills. 

Even where the madness of the straiten'd stream 

Turns in black eddies round : such is the force 

With which his frantic heart and sinews swell. 820 

Nor undelighted by the boundless Spring 
Are the broad monsters of the foaming deep : 
From the deep ooze and gelid cavern rous'd, 
They flounce and tumble in unwieldy joy. 
Dire were the strain, and dissonant, to sing 
The cruel raptures of the savage kind : 
How by this flame their native wrath sublim'd, 
They roam, amid the fury of their heart. 
The far-resounding waste in fiercer bands, 
And groAvl their horrid loves. But this the theme 830 
I sing, enraptur'd, to the British Fair, 



26 SPEING. 

Forbids, and leads me to the mountain brow, 832 

Where sits the shepherd on the grassy turf. 

Inhaling, healthful, the descending sun. 

Around him feeds his many bleating flock. 

Of yarious cadence ; and his sportive lambs, 

This way and that convolv'd, in friskful glee. 

Their frolics play. And now the sprightly race 

Invites them forth ; when swift, the signal given, 

They start away, and sweep the massy mound 840 

That runs around the hill ; the rampart once 

Of iron war, in ancient barbarous times, 

When disunited Britain ever bled. 

Lost in eternal broil : ere yet she grew 

To this deep-laid indissoluble state. 

Where Wealth and Commerce lift the golden head ; 

And o'er our labours Liberty and Law, 

Impartial, watch ; the wonder of the world ! 

What is this mighty Breath, ye curious, say, 
That, in a powerful language, felt not heard, 850 

Instructs the fowls of heaven, and through their breasts 
These arts of love diffuses 1 What, but God 1 
Inspiring God ! who boundless Spirit all, 
And unremitting Energy, pervades, 
Adjusts, sustains, and agitates the whole. 
He ceaseless works alone ; and yet alone 
Seems not to work : with such perfection framed 
Is this complex stupendous scheme of things. 
But, though conceal'd, to every purer eye 
Th' informing Author in his works appears : seo 

Chief, lovely Spring, in thee, and thy soft scenes, 
The Smiling God is seen ; while water, earth. 
And air attest his bounty ; which exalts 
The brute creation to this finer thought. 



And annual melts their undesigning hearts 865 

Profusely thus in tenderness and joj. 

Still let mj song a nobler note assume, 
And sing th' infusive force of Spring on man ; 
When heaven and earth, as if contending, vie 
To raise his being, and serene his soul. 870 

Can he forbear to join the general smile 
Of Nature 1 Can fierce passions vex his breast, 
While every gale is peace, and every grove 
Is melody '? Hence ! from the bounteous walks 
Of flowing Spring, ye sordid sons of earth, 
Hard, and unfeeling of another's woe, 
Or only lavish to yourselves ; away ! 
But come, ye generous minds, in whose wide thought, 
Of all his works. Creative Bounty burns 
With warmest beam ; and on your open front 830 

And liberal eye, sits, from his dark retreat 
Inviting modest Want. Nor, till invok'd, 
Can restless Goodness wait ; your active search 
Leaves no cold wintry corner unexplor'd ; 
Like silent-working Heaven, surprising oft 
The lonely heart with unexpected good. 
For you the roving spirit of the wind 
Blows Spring abroad ; for you the teeming clouds 
Descend in gladsome plenty o'er the world ; 
And the Sun sheds his kindest rays for you, 890 

Ye flower of human race ! In these green days. 
Reviving Sickness lifts her languid head ; 
Life flows afresh ; and young-eyed Health exalts 
The whole creation round. Contentment walks 
The sunny glade, and feels an inward bliss 
Spring o'er his mind, beyond the power of kings 
To purchase. Pure Serenity apace 
Induces thought, and contemplation still. 



28 SPRING. 

By swift degrees the love of Nature works, g^g 

And warms the bosom ; till at last sublim'd 
To rapture, and enthusiastic heat, 
We feel the present Deitj, and taste 
The joy of God to see a happy world ! 

These are the sacred feelings of thy heart. 
Thy heart inform'd by Reason's purer ray, 
Lyttelton, the friend ! thy passions thus 
And meditations vary, as at large, 
Courting the Muse, through Hagley Park you stray ; 
Thy British Tempe ! There along the dale. 
With woods o'erhung, and shagg'd with mossy rocks, 9io 
Whence on each hand the gushing waters play. 
And down the rough cascade white-dashing fall, 
Or gleam in lengthen'd vista through the trees. 
You silent steal ; or sit beneath the shade 
Of solemn oaks, that tuft the swelling mounts 
Thrown graceful round by Nature's careless hand. 
And pensive listen to the various voice 
Of rural peace : the herds, the flocks, the birds. 
The hollo w-whisp' ring breeze, the plaint of rills. 
That, purling down amid the twisted roots 92o 

Which creep around, their dewy murmurs shake 
On the sooth'd ear. From these abstracted oft. 
You wander through the philosophic world ; 
Where in bright train continual wonders rise, 
Or to the curious or the pious eye. 
And oft, conducted by historic truth, 
You tread the long extent of backward time : 
Planning, with warm benevolence of mind, 
And honest zeal unwarp'd by party rage, 
Britannia's weal ; how from the venal gulph 9.30 

To raise her virtue, and her arts revive. 
Or, turning theace thy view, these graver thoughts 



SPEING. 29 

The Muses charm : while, with sure taste refin'd, 933 

You draw th' inspiring breath of ancient song ; 

Till nobly rises, emulous, thj own. 

Perhaps thj lov'd Lucinda shares thj walk, 

With soul to thine attun'd. Then Nature all 

Wears to the lover's eye a look of love ; 

And all the tumult of a guilty world, 

Tost by ungenerous passions, sinks away. 940 

The tender heart is animated peace ; 

And as it pours its copious treasures forth, 

In varied converse, softening every theme. 

You, frequent pausing, turn, and from her eyes, 

Where meeken'd sense, and amiable grace, 

And lively sweetness dwell, enraptur'd, drink 

That nameless spirit of ethereal joy, 

Inimitable happiness ! which love 

Alone bestows, and on a favour'd few. 

Meantime you gain the height, from whose fair brow 

The bursting prospect spreads immense around ; 951 

And snatch'd o'er hill and dale, and wood and lawn, 

And verdant field, and darkening heath between, 

And villages embosom'd soft in trees, 

And spiry towns by surging columns mark'd 

Of household smoke, your eye excursive roams : 

Wide-stretching from the Hall in whose kind haunt 

The hospitable Genius lingers still, 

To where the broken landscape, by degrees, 

Ascending, roughens into rigid hills; pco 

O'er which the Cambrian mountains, like far clouds 

That skirt the blue horizon, dusky rise. 

Flush'd by the spirit of the genial year, 
Now from the virgin's cheek a fresher bloom 
Shoots, less and less, the live carnation round ; 
Her lips blush deeper sweets ; she breathes of youth ; 



30 SPRING. 

The shining raoisture swells into her eyes 967 

In brighter flow ; her wishing bosom heaves 
With palpitations wild ; kind tumults seize 
Her veins, and all her yielding soul is love. 
From the keen gaze her lover turns away, 
Full of the dear ecstatic power, and sick 
With sighing languishment. Ah then, ye fair ! 
Be greatly cautious of your sliding hearts : 
Dare not th' infectious sigh ; the pleading look, 
Downcast, and low, in meek submission drest, 
But full of guile. Let not the fervent tongue, 
Prompt to deceive, with adulation smooth, 
Gain on your purpos'd will. Nor in the bower, 
Where woodbines flaunt, and roses shed a couch, S80 
While Evening draws her crimson curtains round, 
Trust your soft moments with betraying man. 

And let tli' aspiring youth beware of love, 
Of the smooth glance beware ; for 'tis too late. 
When on his heart the torrent softness pours. 
Then wisdom prostrate lies, and fading fame 
Dissolves in air away ; while the fond soul, 
Wrapt in gay visions of unreal bliss. 
Still paints th' illusive form ; the kindling grace ; 
Th' enticing smile ; the modest-seeming eye, soo 

Beneath whose beauteous beams, belying Heaven, 
Lurk searchless cunning, cruelty, and death : 
And still false-warbling in his cheated ear, 
Her siren voice, enchanting, draws him on 
To guileful shores, and meads of fatal joy. 

Even present, in the very lap of love 
Inglorious laid ; while music flows around. 
Perfumes, and oils, and wine, and wanton hours ; 
Amid the roses fierce Repentance rears 
Her snaky crest : a quick-returning pang 



SPRING. 31 

Shoots througli the conscious heart ; where honour still, 
And great design, against th' oppressive load 1002 

Of luxury, bj fits, impatient heave. 

But absent, what fantastic woes, arous'd, • 

Rage in each thought, by restless musing fed, 
Chill the warm cheek, and blast the bloom of life ! 
Neglected fortune flies ; and sliding swift. 
Prone into ruin, fall his scorn'd affairs. 
'Tis naught but gloom around : the darken'd Sun 
Loses his light. The rosy-bosom'd Spring 1010 

To weeping Fancy pines ; and yon bright arch, 
Contracted, bends into a dusky vault. 
All Nature fades extinct ; and she alone 
Heard, felt, and seen, possesses every thought. 
Fills every sense, and pants in every vein. 
Books are but formal dulness, tedious friends ; 
And sad amid the social band he sits. 
Lonely and unattentive. From the tongue 
Th' unfinish'd period falls : while, borne away 
On swelling thought, his wafted spirit flies 1021. 

To the vain bosom of his distant fair ; 
And leaves the semblance of a lover, fix'd 
In melancholy site, with head declin'd. 
And love-dejected eyes. Sudden he starts, 
Shook from his tender trance, and restless runs 
To glimmering shades, and sympathetic glooms. 
Where the dun umbrage o'er the falling stream, 
Romantic, hangs ; there through the pensive dusk 
Strays, in heart-thrilling meditation lost. 
Indulging all to love : or on the bank 108O 

Thrown, amid drooping lilies, swells the breeze 
With sighs unceasing, and the brook with tears. 
Thus in soft anguish he consumes the day, 
Nor quits his deep retirement, till the Moon 



32 SPEING. 

Peeps through the chambers of the fleecy east, 1035 

Enlighten'd bj degrees, and in her train 
Leads on the gentle hours : then forth he walks 
Beneath the trerabhng languish of her beam, 
With soften'd soul, and woos the bird of eve 
To mingle woes with his : or while the world io40 

And all the sons of Care lie hush'd in sleep, 
Associates with the midnight shadows drear ; 
And, sighing to the lonely taper, pours 
His idly-tortur'd heart into the page, 
Meant for the moving messenger of love ; 
Where rapture burns on rapture, every line 
With rising frenzy fired. But if on bed 
Delirious flung, sleep from his pillow flies, 
All night he tosses, nor the balmy pow'r 
In any posture finds ; till the grey morn 1050 

Lifts her pale lustre on the paler wretch, 
Exanimate by love ; and then perhaps 
Exhausted Nature sinks a while to rest, 
Still interrupted by distracted dreams. 
That o'er the sick imagination rise. 
And in black colours paint the mimic scene. 
Oft with th' enchantress of his soul he talks ; 
Sometimes in crowds distress'd ; or if retir'd 
To secret winding flower-enwoven bowers, 
\ Far from the dull impertinence of man, loeo 

Just as he, credulous, his endless cares 
Begins to lose in blind oblivious love, 
Snatch'd from her yielded hand, he knows not how, 
Through forests huge, and long untravell'd heaths 
With desolation brown, he wanders waste, 
In night and tempest wrapt ; or shrinks aghast. 
Back from the bending precipice ; or wades 
The turbid stream below, and strives to reach 



SPRING. 83 

Tte farther shore, where succourless and sad. long 

She with extended arms his aid implores ; 
But strives in yain : borne bj th' outrageous flood 
To distance down, he rides the ridgj wave, 
Or whelm'd beneath the boiling eddj sinks. 
These are the charming agonies of love, 
Whose misery delights. But through the heart 
Should jealousy its venom once diffuse, 
'Tis then delightful misery no more, 
But agony unmix'd, incessant gall, ' 
Corroding every thought, and blasting all 
Love's Paradise. Ye fairy prospects, then, . — loso 
Ye beds of roses, and ye bowers of joy. 
Farewell ! Ye gloamings of departed peace. 
Shine out your last ! The yellow-tinging plague 
Internal vision taints, and in a night 
Of livid gloom imagination wraps. 
Ah then ! instead of love-enliven'd cheeks. 
Of sunny features, and of ardent eyes 
With flowing rapture bright, dark looks succeed, 
Suffus'd, and glaring with untender fire ; 
A clouded aspect, and a burning cheek, 1090 

Where the whole poison'd soul, malignant, sits. 
And frightens love away. Ten thousand fears 
Invented wild, ten thousand frantic views 
Of horrid rivals, hanging on the charms 
For which he melts in fondness, eat him up 
With fervent anguish and consuming rage. 
In vain reproaches lend their idle aid, 
Deceitful pride, and resolution frail, 
Giving false peace a moment. Fancy pours, 
Afresh, her beauties on his busy thought, 1100 

Her first endearments twining round the soul. 
With all the witchcraft of ensnarins: love. 



34 SPRING. 

Straight the fierce storm involves his mind anew, iios 

Flames through the nerves, and boils along the veins ; 

While anxious doubt distracts the tortur'd heart : 

For even the sad assurance of his fears 

Were ease to what he feels. Thus the warm youth, 

Whom Love deludes into his thorny wilds, 

Through flowery-tempting paths, or leads a life 

Of fever'd rapture, or of cruel care ; iiio 

His brightest aims extinguish'd all, and all 

His lively moments running down to waste. 

But happy they, the happiest of their kind, 
Whom gentler stars unite, and in one fate 
Their hearts, their fortunes, and their beings blend ! 
'Tis not the coarser tie of human laws. 
Unnatural oft, and foreign to the mind, 
That binds their peace, but harmony itself, 
Attuning all their passions into love ; 
Where friendship full exerts her softest power, 1120 

Perfect esteem enliven'd by desire 
Ineffable, and sympathy of soul ; 
Thought meeting thought, and will preventing will, 

• With boundless confidence : for naught but love 

' • Can answer love, and render bliss secure. 
Let him, ungenerous, who, alone intent 
To bless himself, from sordid parents buys 
The loathing virgin, in eternal care, 
Well merited, consume his nights and days : 
Let barbarous nations, whose inhuman love 1130 

Is wild desire, fierce as the suns they feel ; 
Let eastern tyrants from the light of heav'n 
Seclude their bosom slaves, meanly possess'd 
Of a mere lifeless, violated form : 
While those whom love cements in holy faith, 
And equal transport, free as Nature live. 



SPRING. 35 

Disdaining fear. What is the world to them, ii87 

Its pomp, its pleasure, and its nonsense all, • 

Who in each other clasp whatever fair 

High fancy forms, and lavish hearts can wish ? 

Something than beauty dearer, should they look 

Or on the mind, or mind illumin'd face ; 

Truth, goodness, honour, harmony, and love, 

The richest bounty of indulgent Heaven ! 

Meantime a smiling offspring rises round, i 

And mingles both their graces. By degrees, 

The human blossom blows ; and every day. 

Soft as it rolls along, shows some new charm, 

The father's lustre, and the mother's bloom. 

Then infant reason grows apace, and calls iiso 

For the kind hand of an assiduous care. 

Delightful task ! to rear the tender thought. 

To teach the young idea how to shoot. 

To pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind, 

To breathe th' enlivening spirit, and to fix 

The generous purpose in the glowing breast. • -^ 

Oh speak the joy ! ye, whom the sudden tear 

Surprises often, while you look around, 

And nothing strikes your eye but sights of bliss, 

All various Nature pressing on the heart : iieo 

An elegant sufficiency, content, 

Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books, 

Ease and alternate labour, useful life. 

Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven ! 

These are the matchless joys of virtuous love; 

And thus their moments fly. The Seasons thus, 

As ceaseless round a jarring world they roll. 

Still find them happy ; and consenting Spring 

Sheds her own rosy garland on their heads : 

Till evening comes at last, serene and mild ; 



36 



SPKING. 



When after the long vernal day of life, 
Enamour'd more, as more remembrance swells 
With manj a proof of recollected love, 
Together down thej sink in social sleep ; 
Together freed, their gentle spirits flj 
To scenes where love and bliss immortal rei2;n. 



1171 




SUMMER. 



THE ARGUMENT. 

The subject proposed. Invocation. Address to Mr Dodington. An intro- 
ductory reflection on the motion of the heavenly bodies ; whence the snc- 
cession of the seasons. As the face of Nature in tliis season is almost 
uniform, the progress of the poem is a description of a summer's day. 
The davi^n. Sun rising. Hymn to the sun. Forenoon. Summer insects 
described. Hay-making. Sheep-shearing. Noon-day. A woodland 
retreat. Group of herds and flocks. A solemn grove : how it affects a 
contemplative mind. A cataract, and rude scene. View of summer in 
the torrid zone. Storm of thunder and lightning, A tale. The storm 
over. A serene afternoon. Bathing. Hour of walking. Transition to 
the prospect of a rich well-cultivated country ; which introduces a pane- 
gyric on Great Britain. Sunset. Evening. Night. Summer meteors. 
A comet. The whole concluding with the praise of philosophy. 

Feom brightening fields of ether fair disclos'd, 

Child of the Sun, refulgent Summer comes, 

In pride of youth, and felt through Nature's depth : 

He comes attended bj the sultry Hours, 

And ever-fanning Breezes, on his way ; 

While, from his ardent look, the turning Spring 

Averts her blushful face ; and earth, and skies. 

All-smiling, to his hot dominion leaves. 

Hence, let me haste into the mid-wood shade, 
Where scarce a sunbeam wanders through the gloom ; lo 
And on the dark green grass, beside the brink 
Of haunted stream, that by the roots of oak 
Rolls o'er the rocky channel, lie at large. 
And sing the glories of the circling year. 



38 SUMMER. 

Come, Inspiration ! from tlij hermit seat, if> 

By mortal seldom found : may Fancy dare, 
From thy fix'd serious eye, and raptur'd glance 
Shot on surrounding Heaven, to steal one look 
Creative of the poet, every pow'r 
Exalting to an ecstacy of soul. 20 

And thou, my youthful Muse's early friend, 
In whom the human graces aU unite : 
Pure light of mind, and tenderness of heart ; 
Genius, and wisdom ; the gay social sense, 
By decency chastis'd ; goodness and wit, 
In seldom-meeting harmony combined ; 
Unblemish'd honour, and an active zeal 
For Britain's glory. Liberty, and Man : 
DoDiNGTON ! attend my rural song. 
Stoop to my theme, inspirit every line, 30 

And teach me to deserve thy just applause. 

With what an awful world-revolving power 
Were first the unwieldy planets launch'd along 
Th' illimitable void ! Thus to remain, 
• Amid the flux of many thousand years. 
That oft has swept the toiling race of men, 
' And all their labour'd monuments, away, 
Firm, unremitting, matchless, in their course ; 
To the kind-temper'd change of night and day. 
And of the seasons ever stealing round, 40 

Minutely faithful : such th' all-perfect Hand, 
That pois'd, impels, and rules the steady Whole ! 

When now no more th' alternate Twins are fir'd. 
And Cancer reddens with the solar blaze. 
Short is the doubtful empire of the night ; 
And soon, observant of approaching day. 
The meek-eyed Morn appears, mother of dews, 
At first faint gleaming in the dappled east ^ 



SUMMER. 39 

Till far o'er ether spreads the widening glow ; 49 

And, from before the lustre of her face, 

White break the clouds away. With quicken'd step, 

Brown Night retires : young Day pours in apace, 

And opens all the lawny prospect wide. 

The dripping rock, the mountain's misty top 

Swell on the sight, and brighten with the dawn. 

Blue, through the dusk, the smoking currents shine ; 

And from the bladed field the fearful hare 

Limps, awkward : while along the forest-glade 

The wild deer trip, and, often turning, gaze 

At early passenger. Music awakes 60 

The native voice of undissembled joy ; 

And thick around the woodland hymns arise. 

Rous'd by the cock, the soon-clad shepherd leaves 

His mossy cottage, where with Peace he dwells ; 

And from the crowded fold, in order, drives 

His flock, to taste the verdure of the morn. 

Falsely luxurious! will not man awake, 
And, springing from the bed of sloth, enjoy 
The cool, the fragrant, and the silent hour, 
To meditation due and sacred song ? 70 

For is there aught in sleep can charm the wise ? » 
To lie in dead oblivion, losing half 
The fleeting moments of too short a life ; 
Total extinction of th' enlighten'd soul ! 
Or else to fev'rish vanity alive, 
Wilder'd, and tossing through distemper'd dreams ! 
Who would in such a gloomy state remain 
Longer than Nature craves ; when every Muse 
And every blooming Pleasure wait without, 
To bless the wildly-devious morning walk t * — 80 

But yonder comes the powerful King of Day, « 
Rejoicing in the east. The lessening cloud, 



40 SUMMER. 

^ The kindling azure, and the mountain's brow 83 

lUum'd with fluid gold, his near approach 
Betoken glad. Lo ! now, apparent all. 
Aslant the dew-bright earth, and colour'd air, 
He looks in boundless majesty abroad ; 
And sheds the shining day, that burnish'd plays 
On rocks, and hills, and tow'rs, and wand' ring streams, 
— J fHigh-gleaming from afar. Prime cheerer Light ! 90 
Of all material beings first, and best ! 
Efflux divine ! Nature's resplendent robe ! 
Without whose vesting beauty all were wrapt 
**"• In unessential gloom ; and thou, Sun ! 

Soul of surrounding worlds ! in whom best seen 
Shines out thy Maker ! may I sing of thee 1 

'Tis by thy secret, strong, attractive force, 
As with a chain indissoluble bound, 
Thy system rolls entire : from the far bourne 
Of utmost Saturn, wheeling wide his round 100 

Of thirty years ; to Mercury, whose disk 
Can scarce be caught by philosophic eye, 
Lost in the near efi'ulgence of thy blaze. 

Informer of the planetary train ! 
Without whose quick' ning glance their cumbrous orbs 
Were brute unlovely mass, inert and dead. 
And not, as now, the green abodes of life ! 
How many forms of being wait on thee. 
Inhaling spirit ! from th' unfetter'd mind, 
By thee sublim'd, down to the daily race, no 

The mixing myriads of thy setting beam. 

The vegetable world is also thine. 
Parent of Seasons ! who the pomp precede 
That waits thy throne, as through thy vast domain, 
Annual, along the bright ecliptic road. 
In world-rejoicing state, it moves sublime. 



SUMMER. 4 1 

Meantime th' expecting nations, circled gay 117 

With all the various tribes of foodful earth, 

Implore thj bounty, or send grateful up 

A common hymn : while, round thy beaming car, 

High-seen, the Seasons lead, in sprightly dance 

Harmonious knit, the rosy finger'd Hours, 

The Zephyrs floating loose, the timely Rains, 

Of bloom ethereal the light-footed Dews, 

And soften'd into joy the surly Storms. 

These, in successive turn, with lavish hand, 

Show'r every beauty, every fragrance show'r. 

Herbs, flowers, and fruits ; till, kindling at thy touch, 

From land to land is flush'd the vernal year. 

Nor to the surface of enliven'd earth, 130 

Graceful with hills and dales, and leafy woods, 
Her liberal tresses, is thy force confin'd : 
But, to the bowell'd cavern darting deep. 
The mineral kinds confess thy mighty pow'r. 
Effulgent, hence the veiny marble shines ; 
Hence Labour draws his tools ; hence burnish'd War 
Gleams on the day ; the nobler works of Peace / 
Hence bless mankind, and generous Commerce binds 
The round of nations in a golden chain. # — 

Th' unfruitful rock itself, impregn'd by thee, i40 

In dark retirement forms the lucid stone. 
The lively diamond drinks thy purest rays. 
Collected light, compact ; that, polish'd bright, 
And all its native lustre let abroad, 
Dares, as it sparkles on the fair one's breast. 
With vain ambition emulate her eyes. 
At thee the ruby lights its deepening glow. 
And with a waving radiance inward flames. 
From thee the sapphire, solid ether, takes 
Its hue cerulean ; and, of evening tinct, 



42 SUMMER. 

The purple-streaming amethyst is thine. i5i 

With thj own smile the yellow topaz burns ; 

Nor deeper verdure dyes the robe of Spring, 

When first she gives it to the southern gale, 

Than the green emerald shows. But, all combin'd, 

Thick through the whitening opal play thy beams ; 

Or, flying several from its surface, form 

A trembling variance of revolving hues, 

As the site varies in the gazer's hand. 

The very dead creation, from thy touch, 160 

Assumes a mimic life. By thee refin'd. 
In brighter mazes the relucent Stream 
Plays o'er the mead. The Precipice abrupt, 
Projecting horror on the blacken'd flood. 
Softens at thy return. The Desert joys, 
Wildly, through all his melancholy bounds. 
Rude Ruins glitter ; and the briny Deep, 
Seen from some pointed promontory's top. 
Far to the blue horizon's utmost verge, 
Restless, reflects a floating gleam. But this, i70 

And all the much-transported Muse can sing. 
Are to thy beauty, dignity, and use, 

• Unequal far ; great delegated Source 

• Of light, and life, and grace, and joy below ! 

How shall I then attempt to sing of Him 
Who, Light Himself, in uncreated light 
Invested deep, dwells awfully retir'd 
From mortal eye, or angel's purer ken ! 
Whose single smile has, from the first of time, 

• Fill'd, overflowing, all those lamps of Heaven, i8o 
-•That beam for ever through the boundless sky : 

But, should he hide his face, th' astonish'd sun. 
And all th' extinguish'd stars, would loos' ning reel 
Wide from their spheres, and Chaos come again. 



SUMMER. 43 

And jet was every fait 'ring tongue of man, iss 

Almiglity Father ! silent in tlij praise ; 
Thy works themselves would raise a general voice, 
Even in the depth of solitary woods 
By human foot untrod, proclaim thy power, 
And to the quire celestial Thee resound, 190 

Th* eternal Cause, Support, and End of all ! 

To me be Nature's volume broad display'd ; 
And to peruse its all-instructing page, 
Or, haply catching inspiration thence. 
Some easy passage, raptur'd, to translate, 
My sole delight ; as through the falling glooms 
Pensive I stray, or with the rising dawn 
On Fancy's eagle-wing excursive soar. 

Now, flaming up the heavens, the potent Sun 
Melts into limpid air the high-rais'd clouds, 200 

And morning fogs, that hover'd round the hills 
In party-colour'd bands ; till wide unveil'd 
The face of Nature shines, from where earth seems, 
Far stretch'd around, to meet the bending sphere. 

Half in a blush of clustering roses lost. 
Dew-dropping Coolness to the shade retires ; 
There, on the verdant turf, or flowery bed. 
By gelid founts and careless rills to muse; 
While tyrant Heat, dispreading through the sky, 
With rapid sway, his burning influence darts 210 

On man, and beast, and herb, and tepid stream. 

Who can unpitying see the flowery race, 
Shed by the morn, their new-flush'd bloom resign, 
Before the parching beam 1 So fade the fair. 
When fevers revel through their azure veins. 
But one, the lofty follower of the Sun, 
Sad when he sets, shuts up her yellow leaves. 



44 SUMMER. 

Drooping all night ; and, when he warm returns, 218 
Points her enamour'd bosom to his raj. 

Home, from his morning task, the swain retreats ; 
His flock before him stepping to the fold : 
While the fuU-udder'd mother lows around 
The cheerful cottage, then expecting food. 
The food of innocence and health ! The daw, 
The rook and magpie, to the grey-grown oaks 
(That the calm village in their verdant arms, 
Shelt'ring, embrace)* direct their lazj flight ; 
Where on the mingling boughs they sit embower'd, 
All the hot noon, till cooler hours arise. 
Faint, underneath, the household fowls convene ; 230 
And, in a corner of the buzzing shade, 
The house-dog, with the vacant greyhound, lies, 
Out-stretch'd and sleepy. In his slumbers one 
Attacks the nightly thief, and one exults 
O'er hill and dale ; till, waken'd by the wasp. 
They starting snap. Nor shall the muse disdain 
To let the little noisy summer-race 
Live in her lay, and flutter through her song, 
Not mean though simple : to the Sun allied, 
From him they draw their animating fire. 240 

Wak'd by his warmer ray, the reptiles young 
Come wing'd abroad ; by the light air upborne, 
Lighter, and full of soul. From every chink. 
And secret corner, where they slept away 
The wintry storms ; or rising from their tombs, 
To higher life ; by myriads, forth at once. 
Swarming they pour ; of all the varied hues 
Their beauty-beaming parent can disclose. 
Ten thousand forms, ten thousand different tribes, 
People the blaze ! To sunny waters some 250 

By fatal instinct fly; where on the pool 



SUMMER. 45 

They, sportive, wheel ; or sailing down the stream, 252 

Are snatch'd immediate bj the quick-eyed trout 

Or darting salmon. Through the green-wood glade 

Some love to stray; there lodg'd, amus'd,and fed, 

In the fresh leaf. Luxurious, others make 

The meads their choice, and visit every flower, 

And every latent herb : for the sweet task, 

To propagate their kinds, and where to wrap, 

In what soft beds, their young yet undisclosed, 260 

Employs their tender care. Some to the house, 

The fold and dairy, hungry, bend their flight ; 

Sip round the pail, or taste the curdling cheese : 

Oft, inadvertent, from the milky stream 

They meet their fate ; or, weltering in the bowl. 

With powerless wings around them wrapt, expire. 

But chief to heedless flies the window proves 
A constant death ; where, gloomily retir'd, 
The villain spider lives, cunning and fierce, — ■ 
Mixture abhorr'd ! Amid a mangled heap 270 

Of carcasses, in eager watch he sits, 
O'erlooking all his waving snares around. 
Near the dire cell the dreadless wanderer oft 
Passes, as oft the ruflian shows his front ; 
The prey at last ensnar'd, he dreadful darts, 
With rapid glide, along the leaning line; 
And, fixing in the wretch his cruel fangs, 
Strikes backward grimly pleas 'd : the fluttering wing 
And shriller sound declare extreme distress. 
And ask the helping hospitable hand. 280 

Resounds the living surface of the ground : 
Nor undelightful is the ceaseless hum. 
To him who muses through the woods at noon ; 
Or drowsy shepherd as he lies reclin'd, 



46 SUMMER. 

"With half-shut eyes, beneath the floating shade 285 

Of willows grey, close-crowding o'er the brook. 

Gradual, from these what numerous kinds descend, 
Evading ev'n the microscopic eye ! 
Full Nature swarms with life ; one wondrous mass 
Of animals, or atoms organis'd 290 

Waiting the vital Breath, when Parent-Heav'n 
Shall bid his Spirit blow. The hoary fen, 
In putrid steams, emits the living cloud 
Of pestilence. Through subterranean cells, 
Where searching sunbeams scarce can find a way, 
Earth animated heaves. The flow'ry leaf 
Wants not its soft inhabitants. Secure, 
Within its winding citadel, the stone 
Holds multitudes. But chief the forest boughs, 
That dance unnumber'd to the playful breeze, soo 

The downy orcliard, and the melting pulp 
Of mellow fruit, the nameless nations feed 
Of evanescent insects. Where the pool 
Stands mantled o'er with green, invisible. 
Amid tlie floating verdure millions stray. 
Each liquid too, whether it pierces, soothes. 
Inflames, refreshes, or exalts the taste. 
With various forms abounds. Nor is the stream 
Of purest crystal, nor the lucid air. 
Though one transparent vacancy it seems, 310 

Void of their unseen people. These, conceal'd 
By the kind art of forming Heaven, escape 
The grosser eye of man : for, if the worlds 
In worlds inclos'd should on his senses burst, 
From cates ambrosial, and the nectar'd bowl. 
He would abhorrent turn ; and in dead night, 
When Silence sleeps o'er all, be stunn'd with noise. 

Let no presuming impious railer tax 



SUMMER. 47 

Creative Wisdom, as if aught was form'd 319 

In vain, or not for admirable ends. 

Shall little haughty ignorance pronounce ' 

His works unwise, of which the smallest part 

Exceeds the narrow vision of her mind ? 

As if upon a full proportioned dome, 

On swelling columns heav'd, the pride of art, 

A critic flj, whose feeble raj scarce spreads 

An inch around, with blind presumption bold, 

Should dare to tax the structure of the whole ! 

And lives the man, whose universal eye 

Has swept at once th' unbounded scheme of things ; 830 

Mark'd their dependence so, and firm accord, 

As with unfalt'ring accent to conclude 

That this availeth naught ? Has any seen 

The mighty chain of beings, lessening down 

From Infinite Perfection to the brink 

Of dreary nothing — desolate abyss ! 

From which astonish'd thought, recoiling, turns '{ 

TiU then alone let zealous praise ascend, 

And hymns of holy wonder, to that Pow*r, 

Whose wisdom shines as lovely on our minds, 340 

As on our smiling eyes his servant sun. ' — 

Thick in yon stream of light, a thousand ways, 
Upward and downward, thwarting and convolv'd, 
The quiv'ring nations sport; till, tempest-wing'd, 
Fierce Winter sweeps them from the face of day. 
Even so luxurious men, unheeding, pass ' 
An idle summer life in fortune's shine, 
A season's glitter ! Thus they flutter on , 

From toy to toy, from vanity to vice; 
Till, blown away by Death, Oblivion comes Sfio 

Behind, and strikes them from the book of life. • -" 

Now swarms the village o'er the jovial mead : 



48 SUMMER. 

The rustic youth, brown with meridian toil, 353 

Healthful and strong ; full as the summer rose 

Blown by prevailing suns, the ruddy maid, 

Half naked, swelling on the sight, and all 

Her kindled graces burning o'er her cheek. 

Ev'n stooping age is here; and infant hands 

Trail the long rake, or, with the fragrant load 

O'ercharg'd, amid the kind oppression roll. seo 

Wide flies the tedded grain ; all in a row 

Advancing broad, or wheeling round the field, 

They spread their breathing harvest to the sun, 

That throws refreshful round a rural smell: 

Or, as they rake the green-appearing ground, 

And drive the dusky wave along the mead, 

The russet hay-cock rises thick behind, 

In order gay : while heard from dale to dale, 

Waking the breeze, resounds the blended voice 

Of happy labour, love, and social glee. 370 

Or rushing thence, in one diifusive band, 
They drive the troubled flocks, by many a dog 
Compell'd, to where the mazy-running brook 
Forms a deep pool : this bank abrupt and high, 
And that fair spreading in a pebbled shore. 
Urg'd to the giddy brink, much is the toil, 
The clamour much, of men, and boys, and dogs, 
Ere the soft fearful people to the flood 
Commit their woolly sides. And oft the swain, 
On some impatient seizing, hurls them in : 880 

Embolden'd then, nor hesitating more. 
Fast, fast, they plunge amid the flashing wave, 
And, panting, labour to the farther shore. 
Repeated this, till deep the well-wash'd fleece 
Has drunk the flood, and from his lively haunt 
The trout is banish'd by the sordid stream ; 



SUMMER. 49 

Heavy, and dripping, to the breezy brow 387 

Slow move the harmless race ; where, as they spread 

Their swelling treasures to the sunny ray, 

Inly disturb'd, and wondering what this wild 

Outrageous tumult means, their loud complaints; 

The country fill; and, tost from rock to rock, 

Incessant bleatings run around the hills. 

At last, of snowy white, the gather'd flocks 

Are in the wattled pen innumerous press'd. 

Head above head : and rang'd in lusty rows 

The shepherds sit, and whet the sounding shears. 

The housewife waits to roll her fleecy stores, 

With all her gay-drest maids attending round. 

One, chief, in gracious dignity enthron'd, 400 

Shines o'er the rest, the pastoral queen, and rays 

Her smiles, sweet-beaming, on her shepherd king ; 

While the glad circle round them yield their souls 

To festive mirth, and wit that knows no gall. 

Meantime, their joyous task goes on apace : 

Some mingling stir the melted tar, and some. 

Deep on the new-shorn vagrant's heaving side. 

To stamp his master's cipher, ready stand ; 

Others the unwilling wether drag along ; 

And, glorying in his might, the sturdy boy 4io 

Holds by the twisted horns tli' indignant ram. 

Behold where bound, and of its robe bereft, 

By needy man, that all-depending lord, 

How meek, how patient, the mild creature lies ! 

What softness in its melancholy face. 

What dumb complaining innocence appears ! 

Fear not, ye gentle tribes ! 'tis not the knife 

Of horrid slaughter that is o'er you wav'd ; 

No, 'tis the tender swain's well guided shears, 

Who having now, to pay his annual care, 

D 



50 SUMMER. 

Borrow'd your fleece, to you a cumbrous load, 421 

Will send you bounding to your hills again. 

A simple scene ! yet hence Britannia sees 
Her solid grandeur rise : hence she commands 
Th' exalted stores of every brighter clime, 
The treasures of the Sun without his rage : 
Hence, fervent all, with culture, toil, and arts. 
Wide glows her land : her dreadful thunder hence 
Rides o'er the waves sublime, and now, ev'n now. 
Impending hangs o'er Gallia's humbled coast ; 430 

Hence rules the circling deep, and awes the world. 

'Tis raging Noon ; and, vertical, the Suu 
Darts on the head direct his forceful rays. 
O'er heav'n and earth, far as the ranging eye 
Can sweep, a dazzling deluge reigns ; and all 
From pole to pole is undistinguish'd blaze. 
In vain the sight dejected to the ground, 
Stoops for relief ; thence hot-ascending steams 
And keen reflexion pain. Deep to the root 
Of vegetation parch'd, the cleaving fields 440 

And slippery lawn an arid hue disclose. 
Blast Fancy's bloom, and wither even the soul. 
Echo no more returns the cheerful sound 
Of sharp' ning scythe : the mower, sinking, heaps 
O'er him the humid hay, with flow'rs perfum'd ; 
And scarce a chirping grasshopper is heard 
Through the dumb mead. Distressful Nature pants. 
The very streams look languid from afar ; 
Or, through th' unshelter'd glade, impatient, seem 
To hurl into the covert of the grove. 460 

All-conquering Heat, oh intermit thy wrath ! 
And on my throbbing temples potent thus 
Beam not so fierce ! Incessant still you flow, 
And still another fervent flood succeeds. 



SUMMER. fil 

Pour'd on the head profuse. In vain I sigh, 455 

And restless turn, and look around for Night ; 

Night is far off ; and hotter hours approach. 

Thrice happy he ! who on the sunless side 

Of a romantic mountain, forest-crown'd, 

Beneath the whole collected shade reclines ! 46 

Or in the gelid caverns, woodbine- wrought. 

And fresh bedew'd with ever-spouting streams, 

Sits coolly calm ; while all the world without, 

Unsatisfied and sick, tosses in noon ! 

Emblem instructive of the virtuous man. 

Who keeps his temper'd mind serene, and pure, 

And every passion aptly harmonis'd. 

Amid a jarring world with vice inflam'd. f — 

Welcome, ye shades ! ye bowery thickets, hail ! 
Ye lofty pines ! ye venerable oaks ! 470 

Ye ashes wild, resounding o'er the steep ! 
Delicious is your shelter to the soul. 
As to the hunted hart the sallying spring, 
Or stream full-flowing, that his swelling sides 
Laves, as he floats along the herbag'd brink. 
Cool, through the nerves, your pleasing comfort glides ; 
The heart beats glad ; the fresh expanded eye 
And ear resume their watch ; the sinews knit ; 
And life shoots swift throuo;h all the lighteu'd limhs. 

Around th' adjoining brook, that purls along 480 

The vocal grove, now fretting o'er a rock. 
Now scarcely moving through a reedy pool. 
Now starting to a sudden stream, and now 
Gently difi"us'd into a limpid plain, 
A various groiipe the herds and flocks compose, 
Rural confusion ! On the grassy bank 
Some ruminating lie ; while others stand 
Half in the flood, and, often bending, sip 



52 SUMMER. 

The circling surface. In the middle droops 489 

The strong laborious ox, of honest front, 
Which incompos'd he shakes ; and from his sides 
The troublous insects lashes with his tail, 
Returning still. Amid his subjects safe, 
Slumbers the monarch swain ; his careless arm 
Thrown round his head, on downy moss sustain'd ; 
Here laid his scrip, with wholesome viands fiU'd ; 
There, listening every noise, his watchful dog. 

Light fly his slumbers, if perchance a flight 
Of angry gad-flies fasten on the herd ; 
Then startling scatters from the shallow brook, 600 

In search of lavish stream. Tossing the foam, 
They scorn the keeper's voice, and scour the plain, 
Through all the bright severity of noon ; 
While from their labouring breasts, a hollow moan 
Proceeding, runs low-bellowing round the hills. 

Oft in this season too, the horse, provok'd, 
While his big sinews full of spirits swell, 
Trembling with vigour, in the heat of blood, 
Springs the high fence ; and, o'er the field efius'd. 
Darts on the gloomy flood, with stedfast eye, 510 

And heart estrang'd to fear : his nervoas chest, 
Luxuriant, and erect, the seat of strength. 
Bears down th' opposing stream ; quenchless his thirst ; 
He takes tlie river at redoubled draughts. 
And with wide nostrils, snorting, skims the wave. 

Still let me pierce into tlie midnight depth 
Of yonder grove, of wildest largest growth : 
That, forming high in air a woodland quire. 
Nods o'er the mount beneath. At every step. 
Solemn and slow, the shadows blacker fall, 520 

And all is awful listening gloom around. 

These are the haunts of Meditation, these 



SUMMER. 53 

The scenes where ancient bards tli' inspiring breath, 523 

Ecstatic, felt ; and, from this world retir'd, 

Convers'd with angels and immortal forms, 

On gracious errands bent : to saye the fall 

Of virtue struggling on the brink of vice ; 

In waking whispers, and repeated dreams. 

To hint pure thought, and warn the favour'd soul 

For future trials fated to prepare ; 530 

To prompt the poet, who devoted gives 

His Muse to better themes ; to soothe the pangs 

Of dying worth, and from the patriot's breast 

(Backward to mingle in detested war. 

But foremost when engag'd) to turn the death ; 

And numberless such offices of love, 

Daily, and nightly, zealous to perform. 

Shook sudden from the bosom of the sky, 
A thousand shapes or glide athwart the dusk, 
Or stalk majestic on. Deep-rous'd, I feel 640 

A sacred terror, a severe delight, 
Creep through my mortal frame ; and thus^ methinks, 
A voice, than human more, th' abstracted ear 
Of Fancy strikes. " Be not of us afraid, 
Poor kindred man ! thy fellow-creatures, we 
From the same Parent-Power our beings drew, 
The same our Lord, and laws, and great pursuit. 
Once some of us, like thee, through stormy Ufa, 
Toil'd, tempest-beaten, ere we could attain 
This holy calm, this harmony of mind, 55) 

Where purity and peace immingle charms. 
Then fear not us ; but with responsive. song. 
Amid these dim recesses, undisturb'd 
By noisy folly and discordant vice. 
Of Nature sing with us, and Nature's God. 
Here freg^uent, at the visionary hour, 



54 SUMMER. 

When musing midnight reigns or silent noon, 557 

Angelic harps are in full concert heard, 

And voices chaunting from the wood-crown'd hill, 

The deepening dale, or inmost sylvan glade : 

A privilege bestow'd bj us, alone. 

On contemplation, or the hallow'd ear 

Of poet swelling to seraphic strain." 

And art thou, Stanley, ^ of that sacred band 1 

, Alas ! for us too soon ! Though rais'd above 
The reach of human pain, above the flight 

I Of human joy ; yet with a mingled ray 
Of sadly pleased remembrance, must thou feel 
A mother's love, a mother's tender woe : 
Who seeks thee still, in many a former scene ; 570 

Seeks thy fair form, thy lovely beaming eyes, 
Thy pleasing converse, by gay lively sense 
Inspir'd : where moral wisdom mildly shone, 
Without the toil of art ; and virtue glow'd 
In all her smiles, without forbidding pride. 
But, thou best of parents ! wipe thy tears ; 
Or rather to Parental Nature pay 
The tears of grateful joy, who for a while 
Lent thee this younger self, this opening bloom 
Of thy enlighten'd mind and gentle worth. 580 

• Believe the Muse : the wintry blast of death 
Kills not the buds of virtue ; no, they spread, 
Beneath the heavenly beam of brighter suns, 

• Through endless ages, into higher powers. 

Thus up the mount, in airy vision rapt, 
I stray, regardless whither ; till the sound 
Of a near fall of water every sense 

* ' Stanley : ' a young lady, well known to the author, who died at the nge 
of eighteen, in the year 1738. 



SUMMER. 55 

Wakes from the cliarm of thought : swift-shrinking back, 
I check my steps, and view the broken scene. 589 

Smooth to the shelving brink a copious flood t 
Rolls fair and placid; where collected all, 
In one impetuous torrent, down the steep 
It thundering shoots, and shakes the country round. 
At first, an azure sheet, it rushes broad ; 
Then whitening by degrees, as prone it falls. 
And from the loud-resounding rocks below 
Dash'd in a cloud of foam, it sends aloft 
A hoary mist, and forms a ceaseless shower. 
Nor can the tortur'd wave here find repose ; 
But, raging still amid the shaggy rocks, eoo 

Now flashes o'er the scatter'd fragments, now 
Aslant the hollow channel rapid darts ; 
And falling fast from gradual slope to slope. 
With wild infracted course, and lessen'd roar, 
It gains a safer bed, and steals at last, 
Along the mazes of the quiet vale. • -• 

Invited from the clifi', to whose dark brow 
He clings, the steep-ascending eagle soars. 
With upward pinions through the flood of day ; 
And, giving full his bosom to the blaze, 6io 

Gains on the Sun ; while all the tunefyl race, 
Smit by afflictive noon, disorder'd droop, 
Deep in the thicket ; or, from bower to bower 
Responsive, force an interrupted strain. 
The stock-dove only through the forest coos, 
Mournfully hoarse ; oft ceasing from his plaint, 
Short interval of weary woe ! again 
The sad idea of his murder'd mate. 
Struck from his side by savage fowler's guile. 
Across his fancy comes ; and then resounds 62o 

A louder song of sorrow through the grove. 



56 SUMMER. 

Beside the dewy border let me sit, 622 

All in tlie freshness of the humid air ; 
There in that hollow'd rock, grotesque and wild, 
An ample chair moss-lin'd, and over head 
Bj flowering umbrage shaded ; where the bee 
Strays diligent, and with th' extracted balm 
Of fragrant woodbine loads his little thigh. 

Now, while I taste the sweetness of the shade, 
While Nature lies around deep-luU'd in Noon, 63C 

Now come bold Fancy, spread a daring flight. 
And view the wonders of the torrid zone : 
Climes unrelenting ! with whose rage compar'd, 
Yon blaze is feeble, and yon skies are cool. 

See, how at once the bright effiilgent sun. 
Rising direct, swift chases from the sky 
The short-liv'd twilight ; and with ardent blaze 
Looks gaily fierce through all the dazzling air : 
He mounts his throne ; but kind before him sends, 
Issuing from out the portals of the morn, 640 

The general breeze, to mitigate his fire. 
And breathe refreshment on a fainting world. 
Great are the scenes, with dreadful beauty crowned 
And barbarous wealth, that see, each circling year. 
Returning suns, and double seasons pass : 
Rocks rich in gems, and mountains big with mines, 
That on the high equator ridgy rise, 
Whence many a bursting stream auriferous plays : 
Majestic woods, of every vigorous green. 
Stage above stage, higli waving o'er the hills ; 650 

Or to the far horizon wide difiiis'd, 
A boundless deep immensity of shade. 
Here lofty trees, to ancient song unknown, 
The noble sons of potent heat and floods 
Prone-rushing from the clouds, rear high to Heaven 



SUMMER. 57 

Their thorny stems, and broad around tliem throw ese 

Meridian gloom. Here, in eternal prime, 

Unnumber'd fruits, of keen delicious taste 

And vital spirit, drink, amid the cliffs, 

And burning sands that bank the shrubby vales, 

Redoubled day, yet in their rugged coats 

A friendly juice to cool its rage contain. 

Bear me, Pomona ! to thy citron groves ; 
To where the lemon and the piercing lime. 
With the deep orange, glowing through the green, 
Their lighter glories blend. Lay me reclin'd 
Beneath the spreading tamarind, that shakes, ty 
Fann'd by the breeze, its fever-cooling fruit. 
Deep in the night the massy locust sheds, 669 

Quench my hot limbs ; or lead me through the maze, 
Embowering endless, of the Indian fig ; 
Or thrown at gayer ease, on some fair brow, 
Let me behold, by breezy murmurs cool'd, 
Broad o'er my head the verdant cedar wave, 
And high palmetos lift their graceful shade. 
Orstretch'd amid these orchards of the sun, 
Give me to drain the cocoa's milky bowl. 
And from the palm to draw its fresh' ning wine ! 
More bounteous far than all the frantic juice 
Which Bacchus pours. Nor, on its slender twigs 68 o 
Low-bending, be the full pomegranate scorn'd ; ^ 
Nor, creeping through the woods, the gelid race 
Of berries. Oft in humble station dwells * 
Unboastfiil worth, above fastidious pomp. . 
Witness, thou best Anana, thou the pride 
Of vegetable life, beyond whate'er 
The poets imag'd in the golden age : 
Quick let me strip thee of thy tufty coat. 
Spread thy ambrosial stores, and feast with Jove ! 



58 SUMMER. 

From these the prospect varies. Plains immense 690 
Lie stretch'd below, interminable meads, 
And vast savannas, where the wandering eye, 
Unfixt, is in a verdant ocean lost. 
Another Flora there, of bolder hues, 
And richer sweets, beyond our garden's pride. 
Plays o'er the fields, and showers with sudden hand 
Exuberant spring : for oft these valleys shift 
Their green-embroider'd robe to fiery brown, 
And swift to green again, as scorching suns. 
Or streaming dews and torrent rains, prevail. 700 

Along these lonely regions, where, retired 
From little scenes of art, great Nature dwells 
In awful solitude, and naught is seen 
But the wild herds that own no master's stall, 
Prodigious rivers roll their fattening seas : 
On whose luxuriant herbage, half-conceal'd, 
Like a fall'n cedar, far difius'd his train, 
Cas'd in green scales, the crocodile extends. 
The flood disparts : behold, in plated mail, 
Behemoth^ rears his head! Glanc'd from his side, 
The darted steel in idle shivers flies : 711 

He fearless walks the plain, or seeks the hills ; 
Where, as he crops his varied fare, the herds, 
In widening circle round, forget their food. 
And at the harmless stranger wondering gaze. 

Peaceful, beneath primeval trees, that cast 
Their ample shade o'er Niger's yellow stream, 
And where the Ganges roUs his sacred wave ; 
Or mid the central depth of black' ning woods, 
High-rais'd in solemn theatre around, 72o 

Leans the huge elephant — wisest of brutes I 
truly wise ! with gentle might endow'd ! 

' ' Behemoth : ' the hippopotamus, or river-horse. 



SUMMER. 59 

Though powerful, not destructive ! Here he sees 723 

Revolving ages sweep the changeful earth, 

And empires rise and fall ; regardless he 

Of what the never-resting race of men 

Project : thrice happy ! could he ^scape their guile, 

Who mine, from cruel avarice, his steps ; 

Or with his towerj grandeur swell their state. 

The pride of kings ! or else his strength pervert, 73o 

And bid him rage amid the mortal fraj, 

Astonish'd at the madness of mankind. 

Wide o'er the winding umbrage of the floods. 
Like vivid blossoms glowing from afar, 
Thick-swarm the brighter birds. For Nature's hand. 
That with a sportive vanity has deck'd 
The plumy nations, there her gayest hues 
Profusely pours. But, if she bids them shine, 
Array'd in all the beauteous beams of day, 
Yet frugal still, she humbles them in song. 740 

Nor envy we the gaudy robes they lent 
Proud Montezuma's realm, whose legions cast 
A boundless radiance waving on the sun, 
While Philomel is ours ; while in our shades. 
Through the soft silence of the list'ning night. 
The sober-suited songstress trills her lay. 

But come, my Muse, the desert-barrier burst, 
A wild expanse of lifeless sand and sky : 
And, swifter than the toiling caravan. 
Shoot o'er the vale of Sennar ; ardent climb 750 

The Nubian mountains, and the secret bounds 
Of jealous Abyssinia boldly pierce. 
Thou art no ruffian, who beneath the mask 
Of social commerce com'st to rob their wealth ; 
No holy Fury thou, blaspheming Heav'n, 
With consecrated steel to stab their peace, 



60 SUMMER. 

And throiigli the land, yet red from ciyil wounds, 757 

To spread the purple tyranny of Rome. 

Thou, like the harmless bee, mayst freely range, 

From mead to mead bright with exalted flowers. 

From jasmine grove to grove, mayst wander gay, 

Through balmy shades and aromatic woods, 

That grace the plains, invest the peopled hills, 

And up the more than Alpine mountains wave. 

There on the breezy summit spreading fair 

For many a league ; or on stupendous rocks, 

That from the sun-redoubling valley lift. 

Cool to the middle air, their lawny tops ; 

Where palaces, and fanes, and villas rise ; 

And gardens smile around, and cultur'd fields ; 770 

And fountains gush ; and careless herds and flocks 

Securely stray ; a world within itself. 

Disdaining all assault : there let me draw 

Ethereal soul, there drink reviving gales, 

Profusely breathing from the spicy groves. 

And vales of fragrance ; there at distance hear 

The roaring floods and cataracts, that sweep 

From disembowell'd earth the virgin gold ; 

And o'er the varied landscape, restless, rove, 

Fervent with life of every fairer kind : 780 

A land of wonders ! which the Sun still eyes 

With ray direct, as of the lovely realm 

Enamour'd, and delighting there to dwell. 

How chang'd the scene ! In blazing height of noon, 
The Sun, oppress'd, is plung'd in thickest gloom. 
Still Horror reigns, a dreary twilight round. 
Of struggling night and day malignant mix'd. 
For to the hot equator crowding fast, 
Where, highly rarefied, the yielding air 
Admits their stream, incessant vapours roll, 



SUMMER. 61 

Amazing clouds on clouds continual heap'd ; 791 

Or wliiiTd tempestuous by the gustj wind, 

Or silent borne along, heavy, and slow, 

With the big stores of steaming oceans charg'd. 

Meantime, amid these upper seas, condensM 

Around the cold aerial mountain's brow. 

And by conflicting winds together dash'd. 

The Thunder holds his black tremendous throne, 

From cloud to cloud the rending Lightnings rage ; 

TiU, in the furious elemental war 800 

Dissoly'd, the whole precipitated mass 

Unbroken floods and solid torrents pours. 

The treasures these, hid from the bounded search 
Of ancient knowledge, whence, with annual pomp, 
(Rich king of floods !) o'erflows the swelKng Nile. 
From his two springs, in Gojam's sunny realm, 
Pure-welling out, he through the lucid lake 
Of fair Dambea rolls his infant stream. 
There, by the Naiads nurs'd, he sports away 
His playful youth, amid the fragrant isles, 8io 

That with unfading verdure smile around. 
Ambitious, thence the manly river breaks ; 
And gathering many a flood, and copious fed 
With all the mellow'd treasures of the sky, 
Winds in progressive majesty along ; 
Through splendid kingdoms now devolves his maze, 
Now wanders wild o'er solitary tracts 
Of life-deserted sand ; till, glad to quit 
The joyless desart, down the Nubian rocks, 
From thundering steep to steep, he pours his urn, 820 
And Egypt joys beneath the spreading wave. 

His brother Niger too, and all the floods 
In which the fuU-form'd maids of Afric lave 
Their jetty limbs ; and all that from the tract 



62 SUMMER. 

Of woody mountains stretcli'd throngh gorgeous Ind 826 

Fall on Cormandel's coast, or Malabar ; 

From Menam's^ orient stream, that nightly shines 

With insect lamps, to where Aurora sheds 

On Indus' smiling banks the rosy show'r : 

All at this bounteous season ope their urns, 830 

And pour untoiling harvest o'er the land. 

Nor less thy world, Columbus, drinks, refresh'd, 
The lavish moisture of the melting year. 
Wide o'er his isles, the branching Oronoque 
Rolls a brown deluge ; and the native drives 
To dwell aloft on life-sufficing trees, 
At once his dome, his robe, his food, and arms. 
Swell'd by a thousand streams, impetuous hurl'd 
From all the roaring Andes, huge descends 
The mighty Orellana.^ Scarce the Muse 840 

Dares stretch her wing o'er this enormous mass 
Of rushing water ; scarce she dares attempt 
The sea-like Plata ; to whose dread expanse, 
Continuous depth, and wondrous length of course, 
Our floods are rills. With unabated force, 
In silent dignity they sweep along, 
And traverse realms unknown, and blooming wilds, 
And fruitful desarts, worlds of solitude, 
Where the sun smiles and seasons teem in vain, 
Unseen and unenjoy'd. Forsaking these, 850 

O'er peopled plains they fair-diffusive flow, 
And many a nation feed, and circle safe, 
In their soft bosom, many a happy isle ; 
The seat of blameless Pan, yet undisturb'd 
By Christian crimes and Europe's cruel sons. 

' ' Menam : ' the river that runs through Siam ; on whose banks a vast mul- 
titude of those insects called Jire-flies make a beautiful appearance in the night. 
— * ' Orellana: ' the river of the Amazons. 



SUMMER. 63 

Thus pouring on thej proudly seek the deep, 856 

Whose vanquish'd tide, recoiling from the shock, 
Yields to this liquid weight of half the globe ; 
And Ocean trembles for his green domain. 

But what avails this wondrous waste of wealth, 
This gay profusion of luxurious bliss, 
This pomp of Nature ? what, their balmy meads. 
Their powerful herbs, and Ceres void of pain 1 
By yagrant birds dispers'd, and wafting winds, 
What, their unplanted fruits 1 what, the cool draughts, 
Th' ambrosial food, rich gums, and spicy health, 
Their forests yield 1 Their toiling insects what, 
Their silky pride, and vegetable robes ? 
Ah ! what avail their fatal treasures, hid 
Deep in the bowels of the pitying earth, 870 

Golconda's gems, and sad Potosi's mines. 
Where dwelt the gentlest children of the Sun ? 
What, all that Afric's golden rivers roll, 
Her odorous woods, and shining ivory stores 1 
Ill-fated race ! the softening arts of Peace, 
Whate'er the humanising Muses teach ; 
The godlike wisdom of the temper'd breast ; 
Progressive truth, the patient force of thought ; 
Investigation calm, whose silent powers 
Command the world ; the Light that leads to Heav'n ; 
Kind equal rule, the government of laws, 88i 

And all-protecting Freedom, which alone 
Sustains the name and dignity of Man ; — 
These are not theirs. The parent Sun himself 
Seems o'er this world of slaves to tyrannize ; 
And, with oppressive ray, the roseate bloom 
Of beauty blasting, gives the gloomy hue, 
And feature gross : or worse, to ruthless deeds, 
Mad jealousy, blind rage, and fell revenge. 



64 SUMMER. 

Their fervid spirit fires. Love dwells not there ! 890 
The soft regards, the tenderness of life, 
The heart-shed tear, th' ineffable delight 
Of sweet humanity : — these court the beam 
Of milder climes ; in selfish fierce desire, 
And the wild furj of voluptuous sense. 
There lost. The very brute creation there 
This rage partakes, and burns with horrid fire. 
Lo ! the green serpent, from his dark abode, 
Which ev'n Imagination fears to tread, 
At noon forth-issuing, gathers up his train 900 

In orbs immense ; then, darting out anew, 
Seeks the refreshing fount ; by which diffusM 
He throws his folds ; and while, with threatening tongue. 
And deathful jaws erect, the monster curls 
Ilis flaming crest, all other thirst, appall'd, 
Or shivering flies, or check'd at distance stands, 
Nor dares approach. But still more direful he, 
The small close -lurking minister of fate, 
Whose high-concocted venom through the veins 
A rapid lightning darts, arresting swift 910 

The vital current. Form'd to humble man. 
This child of vengeful Nature ! There, sublim'd 
To fearless lust of blood, the savage race 
Hoam, licens ' d by the shading hour of guilt. 
And foul misdeed, when the pure Day has shut 
His sacred eye : the tiger darting fierce 
Impetuous on the prey his glance has doom'd ; 
The lively-shining leopard, speckled o'er 
With many a spot, the beauty of the waste ; 
And, scorning all the taming arts of man, 920 

The keen hyena, fellest of the fell ; — 
These, rushing from th' inhospitable woods 
Of Mauritania, or the tufted isles 



SUMMER. 65 

That verdant rise amid the Libyan wikl, 924 

Innumerous glare around their shaggy king, 
Majestic, stalking o'er the printed sand ; 
And, with imperious and repeated roars, 
Demand their fated food. The fearful flocks 
Crowd near the guardian swain ; the nobler herds, 
Where, round their lordly bull in rural ease, 930 

They ruminating lie, with horror hear 
The coming rage. Th' awaken'd yillage starts ; 
And to her fluttering breast the mother strains 
Her thoughtless infant. From the pirate's den, 
Or stern Morocco's tyrant fang, escap'd, 
The wretch half wishes for his bonds again ; 
While, uproar all, the wilderness resounds. 
From Atlas eastward to the frighted Nile. 
Unhappy he who, from the first of joys, 
Society, cut off*, is left alone s^o 

Amid this world of death ! Day after day, 
Sad on the jutting eminence he sits, 
And yiews the main that ever toils below ; 
Still fondly forming in the farthest verge, 
Where the round ether mixes with the wave. 
Ships, dim-discover'd, dropping from the clouds ; 
At evening, to the setting sun he turns 
A mournful eye, and down his dying heart' 
Sinks helpless ; while the wonted roar is up. 
And hiss continual through the tedious night. 9»o 

Yet here, even here, into these black abodes 
Of monsters, unappall'd, from stooping Rome, 
And guilty Caesar, Liberty retir'd. 
Her Cato following through Numidian wilds ; 
Disdainful of Campania's gentle plains, 
And all the green delights Ausonia pours ; 

E 



66 SUMMER. 

When for them she must bend the servile knee, 957 

And fawning take the splendid robber's boon. 

Nor stop the terrors of these regions here. 
Commission'd demons oft, angels of wrath, 
Let loose the raging elements. BreathM hot, 
From all the boundless furnace of the sky. 
And the wide glittering waste of burning sand, 
A suffocating wind the pilgrim smites 
With instant death. Patient of thirst and toil, 
Son of the desart, even the camel feels. 
Shot through his wither'd heart, the fiery blast ! 
Or from the black-red ether, bursting broad. 
Sallies the sudden whirlwind. Straight the sands, 
Commov'd around, in gathering eddies play : 970 

Nearer and nearer still they darkening come ; 
Till, with the general all-involving storm 
Swept up, the whole continuous wilds arise ; 
And by their noon-day fount dejected thrown. 
Or sunk at night in sad disastrous sleep. 
Beneath descending hills, the caravan 
Is buried deep. In Cairo's crowded streets 
Th' impatient merchant, wondering, waits in vain, 
And Mecca saddens at the long delay. 

But chief at sea, whose every flexile wave sso 

Obeys the blast, the aerial tumult swells. 
In the dread ocean undulating wide. 
Beneath the radiant line that girts the globe. 
The circling Typhon, whirl'd from point to point, 
Exhausting all the rage of all the sky, 
v^And dire Ecnephia,^ reign. Amid the heav'ns, 
Falsely serene, deep in a cloudy speck 
Compress'd, the mighty tempest brooding dwells. 

' ' Typhon ' and ' Ecneplua : ' names of particular storms or hurricanes, 
known only between the tropics. 



SUMMER. 67 

Of no regard, save to the skilful eye, 989 

Fiery and foul, the small prognostic hangs ^^ 

Aloft, or on the promontory's brow 

Musters its force. A faint deceitful calm, 

A fluttering gale, the demon sends before, 

To tempt the spreading sail. Then down at once, 

Precipitant, descends a mingled mass 

Of roaring winds and flame, and rushing floods. 

In wild amazement fix'd the sailor stands. 

Art is too slow : by rapid Fate oppressed, 

His broad-wing'd vessel drinks the whelming tide. 

Hid in the bosom of the black abyss. looo 

With such mad seas the daring Gam a fought, \^ 

For many a day, and many a dreadful night. 

Incessant, labouring round the stormy Cape ; 

By bold ambition led, and bolder thirst 

Of gold. For then from ancient gloom emerged 

The rising world of trade : the Genius then, 

Of Navigation, that, in hopeless sloth, 

Had slumber'd on the vast Atlantic deep 

For idle ages, starting, heard at last 

The Lusitanian Prince ;^ who, Heav'n-inspir'd, loio 

To love of useful glory rous'd mankind, 

And in unbounded commerce mix'd the world. 

Increasing still the terrors of these storms. 
His jaws horrific arm'd with threefold fate. 
Here dwells the direful shark. LurM by the scent 
Of steaming crowds, of rank disease, and death, 
Behold ! he, rushing, cuts the briny flood. 
Swift as the gale can bear the ship along ; 
And from the partners of that cruel trade, 

' ' Lusitanian prince : ' Don Henry, tliii-d son to Jolm the First, king of 
Portugal. His strong genius to the discovery of new countries was the chief 
source of all the modern improvements in navigation. 



68 SUMMER. 

Whicli spoils unhappy Guinea of lier sons, 1020 

Demands his share of prey — demands themselves ! 
The stormy Fates descend ; one death involves 
Tyrants and slaves ; when straight, their mangled limbs 
Crashing at once, he dyes the purple seas 
With gore, and riots in the vengeful meal. 

When o'er this world, by equinoctial rains 
Flooded immense, looks out the joyless Sun, 
And draws the copious steam ; from swampy fens. 
Where putrefaction into life ferments. 
And breathes destructive myriads ; or from woods, 
Impenetrable shades, recesses foul, 1031 

In vapours rank and blue corruption wrapp'd, 
Whose gloomy horrors yet no desperate foot 
Has ever dar' d to pierce ; then, wasteful, forth 
Walks the dire Pow'r of pestilent disease. 
♦A thousand hideous fiends her course attend. 
Sick Nature blasting, and to heartless woe. 
And feeble desolation, casting down 

w. .The towering hopes and all the pride of man. 

Such as, of late, at Carthagena quench'd 1040 

The British fire. You, gallant Vernon, saw 
The miserable scene ; you, pitying, saw 
To infant weakness sunk the warrior's arm ; 
« Saw the deep-racking pang, the ghastly form, 
The lip pale-quivering, and the beamless eye 

^ , No more with ardour bright : you heard the groans 
Of agonizing ships from shore to shore ; 
Heard, nightly plung'd amid the sullen waves. 
The frequent corse ; while on each other fix'd. 
In sad presage, the blank assistants seem'd, 1050 

Silent, to ask, whom Fate would next demand. 
What need I mention those inclement skies, 
Where, frequent o'er the sickening city. Plague, 



SUMMER. 69 

The fiercest cliild of Nemesis divine, i054 

Descends 1 From Ethiopia's poison'd woods, 

From stifled Cairo's filth, and fetid fields 

With locust armies putrefying lieap'd, 

This great destroyer sprung. Her awful rage 

The brutes escape : Man is her destin'd prey, 

Intemperate Man ! and o'er his guilty domes loeo 

She draws a close incumbent cloud of death ; 

Uninterrupted by the living winds, 

Forbid to blow a wholesome breeze ; and stain'd 

With many a mixtm-e by the Sun, sufiiis'd, 

Of angry aspect. Princely Wisdom then 

Dejects his watchful eye ;• and from the hand 

Of feeble Justice, ineffectual, drop 

The sword and balance : mute the voice of Joy, 

And hush'd the clamour of the busy world. 

Empty the streets, with uncouth verdure clad ; loro 

Into the worst of desarts sudden turu'd 

The cheerful haunt of men : unless escap'd 

From the doom'd house, where matchless Horror reigns, 

Shut up by barbarous Fear, the smitten wretch. 

With frenzy wild, breaks loose, and, loud to Heaven 

Screaming, the dreadful policy arraigns. 

Inhuman and unwise. The sullen door, 

Yet uninfected, on its cautious hinge 

Fearing to turn, abhors society : 

Dependants, friends, relations. Love himself, loso 

Savag'd by woe, forget the tender tie. 

The sweet engagement of the feeling heart. 5 

But vain their selfish care : the circling skj. 

The wide enlivening air is full of fate ; 

And, struck by turns, in solitary pangs 

They fall, unblest, untended, and unmourn'd. 

Thus o'er the prostrate city black Despair 



70 SUMMER. 

Extends her raven wing ; while, to complete loss 

The scene of desolation, stretch'd around, 
The grim guards stand, denying all retreat. 
And give the flying wretch a better death. 

Much yet remains unsung : the rage intense 
Of brazen-vaulted skies, of iron fields. 
Where drought and famine starve the blasted year : 
FirM by the torch of noon to tenfold rage, 
Th' infuriate hill that shoots the pillar'd flame ; 
And, rous'd within the subterranean world, 
sTh' expanding earthquake, that resistless shakes 
Aspiring cities from their solid base, 
,And buries mountains in the flaming gulf. iioo 

But 'tis enoiigh ; return, my vagrant Muse : 
A nearer scene of horror calls thee home. 

Behold, slow-settling o'er the lurid grove. 
Unusual darkness broods ; and, growing, gains 
The full possession of the sky, surcharged 
With wrathful vapour, from the secret beds. 
Where sleep the mineral generations, drawn. 
Thence nitre, sulphur, and the fiery spume 
Of fat bitumen, streaming on the day. 
With various-tinctur'd trains of latent flame, iiio 

Pollute the sky, and in yon baleful cloud, 
A reddening gloom, a magazine of fate, 
Ferment ; till by the touch ethereal rous'd, 
The dash of clouds, or irritating war 
Of fighting winds, while all is calm below, 
They furious spring. A boding silence reigns, 
Dread through the dun expanse ; save the dull sound 
That from the mountain, previous to the storm, 
Rolls o'er the muttering earth, disturbs the flood, 
And shakes the forest-leaf without a breath. 1120 

Prone, to the lowest vale, the aerial tribes 



SUMMER. 71 

Descend : the tempest-loving raven scarce 1122 

Dares wing the dubious dusk. In rueful gaze 

The cattle stand, and on the scowling heav'ns 

Cast a deploring eye ; bj man forsook, 

Who to the crowded cottage hies him fast, 

Or seeks the shelter of the downward cave. 

Tis listening fear, and dumb amazement all : 
When to the startled eye the sudden glance 
Appears far south, eruptive through the cloud ; 1130 
And following slower, in explosion vast. 
The Thunder raises his tremendous voice. 
At first, heard solemn o'er the verge of heav'n, 
The tempest growls ; but as it nearer comes. 
And rolls its awful burden on the wind, 
The lightnings flash a larger curve, and more 
The noise astounds : till overhead a sheet 
Of livid flame discloses wide ; then shuts, 
And opens wider ; shuts and opens still 
Expansive, wrapping ether in a blaze. ii4o 

Follows the loosen'd aggravated roar. 
Enlarging, deepening, mingling ; peal on peal 
Crush'd horrible, convulsing heav'n and earth. 

Down comes a deluge of sonorous hail. 
Or prone-descending rain. Wide rent, the clouds 
Pour a whole flood ; and yet, its flame unquench'd, 
Th' unconquerable lightning struggles through, 
Ragged and fierce, or in red whirling balls. 
And fires the mountains with redoubled rage. 
Black from the stroke, above, the smouldering pine 11 50 
Stands a sad shatter'd trunk ; and, stretch'd below, 
A lifeless group the blasted cattle lie : 
Here the soft flocks, with that same harmless look 
They wore alive, and ruminating still 
In fancy's eye ; and there the frowning bull, 



72 SUMMER. 

And ox, half-rais'd. Struck on the castled cliff use 

Tlie yenerable tower and spiry fane 

Resign their aged pride. The gloomy woods 

Start at the flash, and from their deep recess 

Wide-flaming out, their trembling inmates shake. 

Amid Carnaryon's mountains rages loud 

The repercussive roar : with mighty crush, 

Into the flashing deep, from the rude rocks 

Of Penmaen Mawr, heap'd hideous to the sky, 

Tumble the smitten cliffs ; and Snowdon's peak, 

Dissolving, instant yields his wintry load. 

Far seen, the heights of heathy Cheviot blaze, 

And Thule bellows through her utmost isles. 

Guilt hears appall'd, with deeply-troubled thought. 
And yet not always on the guilty head 1170 

Descends the fated flash. — Young Celadon 
And his Amelia were a matchless pair ; 
With equal virtue form'd, and equal grace, 
The same, distinguish'd by their sex alone : 
Hers the mild lustre of the blooming morn. 
And his the radiance of the risen day. 

They lov'd : but such their guileless passion was, 
As in the dawn of time inform'd the heart 
Of innocence and undissembling truth. 
'Twas friendship heighten'd by the mutual wish, iiso 
Th' enchanting hope, and sympathetic glow, 
Beam'd from the mutual eye. Devoting all 
To love, each was to each a dearer self; 
Supremely happy in th' awaken'd power 
Of giving joy. Alone, amid the shades, 
Still in harmonious intercourse they liv'd 
The rural day, and talk'd the flowing heart, 
Or sigh'd and look'd unutterable things. 

So pass'd their life, a clear united stream, 



SUMMER. 73 

By care unrufScd ; till, in evil hour, 1190 

The tempest caught them on the tender "^alk, 

Heedless hoAY far and where its mazes straj'd, 

While with each other blest, creative Love 

Still bade eternal Eden smile around. 

Presaging instant fate, her bosom lieav^l 

Unwonted sighs, and, stealing oft a look 

Of the big gloom, on Celadon her eye 

Fell tearful, wetting her disorder'd cheek. 

In vain assuring love, and confidence 

In Heaven, repress'd her fear ; it grew, and shook 1200 

Her frame near dissolution. He perceived 

Th' unequal conflict, and, as angels look 

On dying saints, his eyes compassion shed, 

With love illumined high. " Fear not," he said, 

" Sweet innocence ! thou stranger to oiFence 

And inward storm I He, who yon skies involves 

In frowns of darkness, ever smiles on thee 

With kind regard. O'er thee the secret shaft 

That wastes at midnight, or th' undreaded hour 

Of noon, flies harmless : and that very voice, 1210 

Which thunders terror through the guilty heart, 

AVith tongues of seraphs whispers peace to thine. 

'Tis safety to be near thee sure, and thus 

To clasp perfection ! " From his void embrace, 

(Mysterious Heaven !) that moment, to the ground, 

A blackened corse, was struck the beauteous maid. 

But who can paint the lover, as he stood, 

Pierc'd by severe amazement, hating life, 

Speechless, and fix'd in all the death of woe ? 

So, faint resemblance ! on the marble tomb 1220 

The well-dissembled mourner stooping stands, 

For ever silent, and for ever sad. 

As from the face of Heaven the shatter'd clouds 



74 SUMMER. 

Tumultuous rove, th' interminable sky 1224 

Sublimer swells, and o'er the world expands 

A purer azure. Nature from the storm 

Shines out afresh ; and through the lighten'd air 

A higher lustre and a clearer calm, 

Diffusive, tremble ; while, as if in sign 

Of danger past, a ghttering robe of joy, 1230 

Set off abundant by the yellow ray. 

Invests the fields, yet drooping from distress. 

Tis beauty all, and grateful song around, 
Join'd to the low of kine, and numerous bleat 
Of flocks thick-nibbling through the clover'd vale. 
And shall the hymn be marr'd by thankless man, 
Most favour'd, w^ho with voice articulate 
Should lead the chorus of this lower world 1 
Shall he, so soon forgetful of the hand 
Tliat hush'd the thunder, and serenes the sky, i2'io 

Extinguish'd feel that spark the tempest wak'd. 
That sense of powers exceeding far his own, 
Ere yet his feeble heart has lost its fears 1 

Cheer'd by the milder beam, the sprightly youth 
Speeds to the well-known pool, whose crystal depth 
A sandy bottom shows. A while he stands 
Gazing th' inverted landscape, half afraid 
To meditate the blue profound below ; 
Then plunges headlong down the circling flood. 
Ilis ebon tresses and his rosy cheek 1250 

Instant emerge ; and through th' obedient wave, 
At each short breathing by his lip repell'd, 
With arms and legs according well, he makes, 
As humour leads, an easy-winding path ; 
While, from his polish'd sides, a dewy light 
Effuses on the pleas 'd spectators round. 

This is the purest exercise of health, 



SUMMER. 75 

The kind refresher of the Summer-heats ; 1258 

Nor, "when cold Winter keens the brightening flood, 

Would I weak-shivering linger on the brink. 

Thus life redoubles, and is oft preserved 

Bj the bold swimmer, in the swift illapse 

Of accident disastrous. Hence the limbs 

Knit into force ; and the same Roman arm, 

That rose victorious o'er the conquer'd earth, 

First learn'd, while tender, to subdue the wave. 

Ev'u from the body's purity the mind 

Receives a secret sympathetic aid. 

Close in the covert of a hazel copse. 
Where, winded into pleasing solitudes, 1270 

Runs out the rambling dale, young Damon sat. 
Pensive, and pierc'd with love's delightful pangs. 
There to the stream that down the distant rocks 
Hoarse-murmuring fell, and plaintive breeze that play'd 
Among the bending willows, falsely he 
Of Musidora's cruelty complain'd. 
She felt his flame ; but deep within her breast, 
In bashful coyness, or in maiden pride, 
The soft return conceal'd ; save when it stole 
In side-long glances from her downcast eye, 128O 

Or from her swelling soul in stifled sighs. 
Touch'd by the scene, no stranger to his vows, 
He frara'd a melting lay, to try her heart; 
And, if an infant passion struggled there. 
To call that passion forth. Thrice happy swain ! 
A lucky chance, that oft decides the fate 
Of mighty monarchs, then decided thine ! 
For, lo ! conducted by the laughing Loves, 
This cool retreat his Musidora sought : 
Warm in her cheek the sultry season glow'd ; 1290 

And, robed in loose array, she came to bathe 



76 SUMMER. 

Her fervent limbs in the refreshing stream. 1292 

What shall he do 1 In sweet confusion lost, 

And dubious flutterings, he a while remain'd : 

A pure ingenuous elegance of soul, 

A delicate refinement, known to few, 

Perplex'd his breast, and urg'd him to retire : 

But love forbade. Ye prudes in virtue, saj, 

Say, ye severest, what would you have done 1 

Meantime, this fairer nymph than ever bless'd isoo 

Arcadian stream, wath timid eye around 

The banks surveying, stripp'd her beauteous limbs 

To taste the lucid coolness of the flood. 

Ah then ! not Paris on the piny top 

Of Ida panted stronger, when aside 

The rival-goddesses the veil divine 

Cast unconfin'd, and gave him all their charms, 

Than, Damon, thou ; as from the snowy leg 

And slender foot th' inverted silk she drew ; 

As the soft touch dissolv'd the virgin zone ; isio 

And, through the parting robe, th' alternate breast, 

With youth wild-throbbing, on thy lawless gaze 

In full luxuriance rose. But, desperate youth, 

How durst thou risk the soul-distracting view ; 

As from her naked limbs of glowing white. 

Harmonious swell'd by Nature's finest hand. 

In folds loose-floating fell the fainter lawn ; 

And fair-expos 'd she stood, shrunk from herself, 

With fancy blushing, at the doubtful breeze 

Alarm'd, and starting like the fearful fawn 1 1320 

Then to the flood she rush'd : the parted flood 

Its lovely guest with closing waves receiv'd ; 

And every beauty softening, every grace 

Flushing anew, a mellow lustre shed : 

As shines the iily through the crystal mild ; 



SUMMER. 77 

Or as tlie rose amid the morning dew, 1326 

Fresh from Aurora's hand, more sweetlj glows. 

While thus she wanton'd, now beneath the wave 

But iU conceal'd, and now with streaming locks, 

That half embrac'd her in a humid veil, 

Risinjc aojain, the latent Damon drew 

Such maddening draughts of beautj to the soul 

As for a while o'erwhelm'd his raptur'd thought 

With luxury too daring. Check'd, at last, 

By love's respectful modesty, he deem'd 

The theft profane, if aught profane to love 

Can e'er be deem'd ; and, struggling from the shade. 

With headlong hurry fled : but first these lines, 

Traced by his ready pencil, on the bank 1339 

With trembling hand he threw : — " Bathe on, my fair, 

Yet unbeheld, save by the sacred eye 

Of faithful love : I go to guard thy haunt, 

To keep from thy recess each vagrant foot. 

And each licentious eye." With wild surprise, 

As if to marble struck, devoid of sense, 

A stupid moment motionless she stood ; 

So stands the statue^ that enchants the world, 

So bending tries to veil the matchless boast, 

The mingled beauties of exulting Greece. 

Recovering, swift she flew to find those robes 1350 

Which blissful Eden knew not ; and, array'd 

In careless haste, th' alarming paper snatch'd. 

But, when her Damon's well-known hand she saw, 

Her terrors vanish'd, and a softer train 

Of mix'd emotions, hard to be describ'd, 

Her sudden bosom seiz'd : shame void of guilt, 

The charming blush of innocence, esteem 

And admiration of her lover's flame, 

' ' Statue ; ' the Venus of Medici. 



78 SUMMER. 

By modesty exalted : even a sense 1359 

Of self-approving beauty stole across 

Her busy thought. At length, a tender calm 

Hush'd by degrees the tumult of her soul ; 

And on the spreading beech, that o'er the stream 

Incumbent hung, she with the sylvan pen 

Of rural lovers this confession carv'd, 

Which soon her Damon kiss'd with weeping joy : 

" Dear youth ! sole judge of what these verses mean, 

By Fortune too much favour'd, but by Love, 

Alas ! not favour'd less, be still as now 

Discreet : the time may come you need not fly." 1370 

The Sun has lost his rage : his downward orb 
Shoots nothing now but animating warmth 
And vital lustre ; that with various ray. 
Lights up the clouds, those beauteous robes of heaven, 
Incessant roU'd into romantic shapes. 
The dream of waking Fancy ! Broad below, 
Cover'd with ripening fruits, and swelling fast 
Into the perfect year, the pregnant earth 
And all her tribes rejoice. Now the soft hour 
Of walking comes : for him who lonely loves i3so 

To seek the distant hills, and there converse 
With Nature ; there to harmonize his heart, 
And in pathetic song to breathe around 
The harmony to others. Social friends, 
Attun'd to happy unison of soul ; 
To whose exalting eye a fairer world, 
Of which the vulgar never had a glimpse. 
Displays its charms ; whose minds are richly fraught 
With philosophic stores, superior light ; 
And in whose breast, enthusiastic, burns 1390 

Virtue, the sons of interest deem romance ; 
Now call'd abroad, enjoy the falling day : 



SUMMER. 79 

Now to the verdant Portico of woods, 1393 

To Nature's vast Lyceum, fortli tliej walk ; 

By that kind School where no proud master reigns, 

The fidl free converse of the friendly heart, 

Improving and improv'd. Now from the world, 

Sacred to sweet retirement, lovers steal. 

And pour their souls in transport, which the Sire 

Of love approving hears, and calls it good. 1400 

"Which way, Amanda, shall we bend our course 1 

The choice perplexes. Wherefore should we choose % 

All is the same with thee. Say, shall we wind 

Along the streams *? or walk the smiling mead 1 

Or court the forest-glades \ or wander wild 

Among the waving harvests'? or ascend. 

While radiant Summer opens all its pride. 

Thy hill, delightful Shene 1^ Here let us sweep 

The boundless landscape : now the raptur'd eye, 

Exulting, swift to huge Augusta send, i^io 

Now to the sister hills ^ that skirt her plain. 

To lofty Harrow now, and now to where 

Majestic Windsor lifts his princely brow. 

In lovely contrast to this glorious view, 

Calmly magnificent, then will we turn 

To where the silver Thames first rural grows. 

There let the feasted eye unwearied stray ; 

Luxurious, there, rove through the pendent woods 

That nodding hang o'er Harrington's retreat ; 

And, stooping thence to Ham's embowering walks, 142a 

Beneath whose shades, in spotless peace retir'd, 

With her the pleasing partner of his heart, 

The worthy Queensberry yet laments his Gay, 

And polish'd Cornbury woos the willing Muse, 

' 'Shene:' the old name of Richmond, signifying in Saxon, shining^ ox 
i-plendour. — * ' Sister hills : ' Highgate and Hampstead. 



80 SUMMER. 

Slow let us trace the matchless Vale of Thames ; 1425 

Fair-winding up to where the Muses haunt 

In Twit'nam's bowers, and for their Pope implore 

The healing God;^ to royal Hampton's pile, 

To Clermont's terrac'd height, and Esher's groves, 

Where in the sweetest solitude, embrac'd 1430 

By the soft windings of the silent Mole, 

From courts and senates Pelham finds repose. 

Enchanting yale ! beyond whate'er the Muse 

Has of Achaia or Hesperia sung ! 

vale of bliss ! softly-swelling hills ! 

On which the Power of Cultivation lies, 

And joys to see the wonders of his toil. 

Heavens ! what a goodly prospect spreads around, 
Of hills, and dales, and woods, and lawns, and spires, 
And glittering towns, and gilded streams, till all 1440 
The stretching landscape into smoke decays ! 
Happy Britannia ! where the Queen of Arts, 
Inspiring vigour, Liberty abroad 
Walks, unconfin'd, even to thy farthest cots, 
And scatters plenty with unsparing hand. 

Rich is thy soil, and merciful thy clime ; 
Thy streams unfailing in the Summer's drought ; 
Unmatch'd thy guardian oaks ; thy valleys float 
With golden waves; and on thy mountains flocks 
Bleat numberless, while, roving round their sides, 1450 
Bellow the blackening herds in lusty droves. 
Beneath, thy meadows glow, and rise unquell'd 
Against the mower's scythe. On every hand 
Thy villas shine. Thy country teems with wealth ; 
And property assures it to the swain. 
Pleas 'd and unwearied in his guarded toil. 

Full are thy cities with the sous of Art ; 

• In his last sickness. 



SUMMER. 81 

And trade and joy, in every busy street, i458 

Mingling are heard : even Drudgery himself. 

As at the car he sweats, or dusty hews 

The palace-stone, looks gay. Thy crowded ports, 

Where rising masts an endless prospect yield, 

With labour burn, and echo to the shouts 

Of hurried sailor, as he hearty waves 

His last adieu, and, loosening every sheet. 

Resigns the spreading vessel to the wind. 

Bold, firm, and graceful are thy generous youth, 
By hardship sinew'd, and by danger fir'd. 
Scattering the nations where they go ; and first 
Or on the listed plain, or stormy seas. 1470 

Mild are thy glories too, as o'er the plans 
Of thriving peace thy thoughtful sires preside ; 
In genius, and substantial learning, high ; 
For every virtue, every worth, renown'd ; 
Sincere, plain-hearted, hospitable, kind ; 
Yet like the mustering thunder, when provok'd,« 
The dread of tyrants, and the sole resource 
Of those that under grim Oppression groan. > ^ 

Thy sons of glory many ! Alfred thine, 
In whom the splendour of heroic war, i48o 

And more heroic peace, when govern'd well. 
Combine ; whose hallow'd name tlte Virtues saint, 
And his own Muses love ; the best of kings ! 
With him thy Edwards and thy Henrys shine. 
Names dear to Fame ; the first who deep imprcss'd 
On haughty Gaul the terror of thy arms. 
That awes her genius still. In statesmen thou, 
And patriots, fertile. Thine a steady More, o 
Who, with a generous though mistaken zeal. 
Withstood a brutal tyrant's useful rage ; 1490 

Like Cato firm, like Aristides just, / 



82 SUMMER. 

, Like rigid Cincinnatus nobly poor ; 1492 

■ "»A dauntless soul erect, who smil'd on death. 
Frugal and wise, a Walsingham is thine ; 
A Drake, who made thee mistress of the deep. 
And bore thj name in thunder round the world. 
Then flam'd thy spirit high : But who can speak 
The numerous worthies of the Maiden Reign 1 
In Raleigh mark their every glory mix'd ; 
Raleigh, the scourge of Spain ; whose breast with all 
The sage, the patriot, and the hero burn'd ! 1501 

Nor sunk his Tigour,when a coward-reign 
The warrior fetter'd, and at last resign'd, 
To glut the yengeance of a vanquish'd foe. 
Then, active still and unrestrain'd, his mind 
Explor'd the vast extent of ages past, 
And with his prison-hours enrich'd the world ; 
Yet found no times, in all the long research, 
So glorious, or so base, as those he provM, 
In which he conquer'd, and in which he bled. 1510 

Nor can the Muse the gaUant Sidney pass, 
The plume of war ! with early laurels crown'd. 
The lover's myrtle, and the poet's bay. 
• A Hampden too is thine, illustrious land ! 
Wise, strenuous, firm, of un submitting soul, 
Who stemm'd the torrent of a downward age 
To slavery prone, and bade thee rise again, 
_ -In all thy native pomp of freedom bold. 
Bright, at his call, thy Age of Men eifulg'd. 
Of men on whom late time a kindling eye 1520 

Shall turn, and tyrants tremble while they read. 
Bring every sweetest flower, and let me strew 
The grave where Russel lies ; whose temper'd blood. 
With calmest cheerfulness for thee resign'd, 
Stain'd the sad annals of a giddy reign, 



SUMMER. 83 

Aiming at lawless power, though meanly sunk 1526 

In loose inglorious luxury. With him 

His friend, the British Cassius,^ fearless bled ; 

Of high determined spirit, roughly brave, * 

By ancient learning to th' enlighten'd love 

Of ancient freedom warm'd. Fair thy renown ' ^ 

In awful sages and in noble bards ; 

Soon as the light of dawning Science spread 

Her orient ray, and wak'd the Muses' song. 

Thine is a Bacon ; hapless in his choice ; 

Unfit to stand the civil storm of state, ^ 

And through the smooth barbarity of courts, ^ 

With firm but pliant virtue, forward still 

To urge his course : him for the studious shade 

Kind Nature form'd, deep, comprehensive, clear, 1540 

Exact, and elegant ; in one rich soul, 

Plato, the Stagyrite, and Tully join'd. 

The great deliverer he, who, from the gloom 

Of cloister'd monks and jargon-teaching schools, 

Led forth the true Philosophy, there long 

Held in the magic chain of words and forms, 

And definitions void : he led her forth, 

Daughter of Heaven ! that, slow-ascending still, 

Investigating sure the chain of things. 

With radiant finger points to Heaven again. isso 

The generous Ashley^ thine, the friend of man ; 

Who scann'd his nature with a brother's eye, 

His weakness prompt to shade, to raise his aim, 

To touch the finer movements of the mind, 

And with the moral beauty charm the heart. 

Why need I name thy Boyle, whose pious search, 

Amid the dark recesses of his works, 

1 'British Cassius:' Algernon Sidney. — * 'Ashley;' Anthony Ashley 
Cooper, Eai'l of Shaftesbury. 



84 SUMMER. 

The great Creator sought 1 And why thy Locke, ir.ss 

Who made the whole internal world his own 1 

Let Newton, pure intelligence, whom God 

To mortals lent, to trace his boundless works 

From laws sublimely simple, speak thy fame 

In all philosophy. For lofty sense, 

Creative fancy, and inspection keen 

Through the deep windings of the human heart. 

Is not wild Shakspeare thine and Nature's boast 1 

Is not each great, each amiable Muse 

Of classic ages in thy Milton met ? 

A genius universal as his theme ; 

Astonishing as Chaos, as the bloom isro 

Of blowing Eden fair, as Heaven sublime. 

Nor shall my verse that elder bard forget, 

The gentle Spenser, Fancy's pleasing son ; 

Who, like a copious river, pour'd his song 

O'er all the mazes of enchanted ground : 

Nor thee, his ancient master, laughing sage, 

Chaucer, whose native manners-painting verse. 

Well moraliz'd, shines through the Gothic cloud 

Of time and language o'er thy genius thrown. 

May my song soften, as thy daughters I, is so 

Britannia, hail ! for beauty is their own, 
The feeling heart, simplicity of life, 
And elegance, and taste : the faultless form, 
Shap'd by the hand of Harmony; the cheek, 
Where the live crimson, through the native white 
Soft-shooting, o'er the face diffuses bloom. 
And every nameless grace ; the parted lip. 
Like the red rose-bud moist with morning dew, 
Breathing delight ; and under flowing jet, 
Or sunny ringlets, or of circling brown, 1590 

The neck slight-shaded, and the swelling breast ; 



SUMMER. 85 

The look resistless, piercing to the soul, 1592 

And by the soul inform'd, when, dress'd in love, 
She sits high-smiling in the conscious eye. * ^^ 

Island of bliss ! amid the subject seas, ► 
That thunder round thj rocky coasts, set up, 
At once the wonder, terror, and delight. 
Of distant nations, whose remotest shores 
Can soon be shaken by thy naval arm ; 
Not to be shook thyself, but all assaults I600 

Baffling, as thy hoar cliffs the loud sea wave. , .^^ 

Thou, by whose almighty nod the scale » 
Of empire rises, or alternate falls, "■' 

Send forth the saving Virtues round the land. 
In bright patrol : white Peace, and social Love ; 
The tender-looking Cliarity, intent 
On gentle deeds, and shedding tears through smiles ; 
Undaunted Truth, and Dignity of mind ; 
Courage, composed and keen ; sound Temperance, 
Healthful in heart and look ; clear Chastity, • I610 

With blushes reddening as she moves along, 
Disorder'd at the deep regard she draws ; r '^ 
Rough Industry ; Activity untirM, 
With copious life inform'd, and all awake : 
While in the radiant front superior shines 
That first paternal virtue. Public Zeal ; 
Who throws o'er all an equal wide survey, 
And, ever musing on the common weal. 
Still labours glorious with some great design. 

Low walks the sun, and broadens by degrees, I620 
Just o'er the verge of day. The shifting clouds 
Assembled gay, a richly-gorgeous train, 
In all their pomp attend his setting throne. 
Air, earth, and ocean smile immense. And now, 
As if his weary chariot sought the bowers 



86 STJMMEPw 

Of Amphitrite, and her tending nymphs i626 

(So Grecian fable sung), he dips his orb ; 
Now half-immers'd ; and now a golden curve 
Gives one bright glance, then total disappears. 

For ever running an enchanted round. 
Passes the day, deceitful, vain, and void ; 
As fleets the vision o'er the formful brain, 
This moment hurrying wild th' impassion'd soul, 
The next in nothing lost. 'Tis so to him. 
The dreamer of this earth, an idle blank : 
A sight of horror to the cruel wretch. 
Who all day long in sordid pleasure roU'd, 
Himself a useless load, has squander'd vile. 
Upon his scoundrel train, what might have cheer'd 
A drooping family of modest worth. 1640 

But to the generous stiU-improving mind. 
That gives the hopeless heart to sing for joy, 
Difiiising kind beneficence around, 
Boastless, as now descends the silent dew ; 
To him the long review of order'd life 
Is inward rapture, only to be felt. 

Confess'd from yonder slow-extinguish'd clouds, 
All ether softening, sober Evening takes 
Her wonted station in the middle air ; 
A thousand shadows at her beck. First this leso 

She sends on earth ; then that, of deeper dye. 
Steals soft behind ; and then a deeper stiU, 
In circle following circle, gathers round, 
To close the face of things. A fresher gale 
Begins to wave the wood, and stir the stream. 
Sweeping with shadowy gust the fields of corn ; 
While the quail clamours for his running mate. 
Wide o'er the thistly lawn, as swells the breeze, 
A whitening shower of vegetable down 



SUMMER. 87 

Amusive floats. The kind impartial care I66O 

Of Nature naught disdains : thoughtful to feed 
Her lowest sons, and clothe the coming year, 
From field to field the feather'd seeds she wings. 

His folded flock secure, the shepherd home 
Hies, merrj-hearted ; and bj turns relieves 
The ruddy milk-maid of her brimming pail ; 
The beauty whom perhaps his witless heart, 
Unknowing what the joy-mix'd anguish means, 
Sincerely loves, by that blest language shown 
Of cordial glances and obliging deeds. 1670 

Onward they pass, o'er many a panting height 
And vaUey sunk and unfrequented ; where 
At fall of eve the fairy people throng, 
In various game and revelry to pass 
The summer night, as viUage stories teU. 
But far about they wander from the grave 
Of him whom his uno;entle fortune urg^d 
Against his own sad breast to lift the hand 
Of impious violence. The lonely tower ' " 
Is also shunn'd ; whose mournful chambers hold, leso 
So night-struck Fancy dreams, the yelling ghost. 

Among the crooked lanes, on every hedge, 
The Glow-worm lights his gem ; and through the dark, 
A moving radiance twinkles. Evening yields 
The world to Night ; not in her winter robe • 
Of massy Stygian woof, but loose array'd / — 
In mantle dun. A faint erroneous ray, 
Glanc'd from th' imperfect surfaces of things, 
Flings half an image on the straining eye ; 
While wavering woods, and villages, and streams, leao 
And rocks, and mountain-tops, that long retain'd 
Th' ascending gleam, are all one swimming scene. 
Uncertain if beheld. Sudden to heaven 



88 SUMMER. 

Thence wearj vision turns ; where, leading soft 1694 
The silent hours of love, with purest ray 
Sweet Venus shines ; and, from her genial rise, 
When day-light sickens, till it springs afresh, 
Unrivall'd reigns, the fairest lamp of night. 
As thus th' effulgence tremulous I drink 
With cherish'd gaze, the lambent lightnings shoot 1700 
Across the sky, or horizontal dart 
In wondrous shapes, by fearful murmuring crowds 
Portentous deem'd. Amid the radiant orbs, 
That more than deck — that animate — the sky. 
The life-infusing suns of other worlds ; 
Lo ! from the dread immensity of space 
Returning, with accelerated course, 
The rushing comet to the Sun descends ; 
And as he sinks below the shading earth, 
With awful train projected o'er the heav'ns, 1710 

The guilty nations tremble. But, above 
Those superstitious horrors that enslave 
/" The fond sequacious herd, to mystic faith 
And blind amazement prone, th' enlighten'd few. 
Whose godlike minds Philosophy exalts. 
The glorious stranger hail. They feel a joy 
Divinely great ; they in their powers exult, 
That wondrous force of thought, which mounting spurns 
This dusky spot, and measures all the sky ; 
While, from his far excursions through the wilds 1720 
Of barren ether, faithful to ]iis time. 
They see the blazing wonder rise anew. 
In seeming terror clad, but kindly bent 
To work the will of all-sustaining Love : 
From his huge vapoury train perhaps to shake 
Reviving moisture on the numerous orbs, 
Through which his long ellipsis winds ; perhaps 



SUMMEE. 89 

To lend new fuel to declining suns, 1728 

To light up worlds, and feed th' eternal fire. 

With thee, serene Philosophy, with thee. 
And thy bright garland, let me crown my song ! 
Effusive source of evidence and truth ! 
A lustre shedding o'er th' ennobled mind. 
Stronger than summer-noon, and pure as that 
Whose mild vibrations soothe the parted soul. 
New to the dawning of celestial day. 
Hence through her nourish'd powers, enlarg'd by thee, 
She springs aloft, with elevated pride, 
Above the tangling mass of low desires, 
That bind the fluttering crowd ; and, angel-wing'd, 1740 
The heights of science and of virtue gains, 
Where all is calm and clear ; with Nature round. 
Or in the starry regions, or th' abyss. 
To Reason's and to Fancy's eye display'd : 
The first up-tracing, from the dreary void, 
The chain of causes and effects to Him, 
The world-producing Essence, who alone 
Possesses being ; while the last receives 
The whole magnificence of heav'n and earth. 
And every beauty, delicate or bold, 1750 

Obvious or more remote, with livelier sense, 
Difiiisive painted on the rapid mind, 

Tutor'd by thee, hence Poetry exalts 
Her voice to ages ; and informs the page 
With music, image, sentiment, and thought. 
Never to die ; the treasure of mankind, 
Tlieir highest honour, and their truest joy ! • -^ 

Without thee what were unenlighten'd Man "? 
A savage, roaming through the woods and wilds 
In quest of prey ; and with th' unfashion'd fur i7eo 
Rough-clad ; devoid of every finer art 



90 SUMMER. 

And elegance of life. Nor happiness 1762 

Domestic, mix'd of tenderness and care, 

Nor moral excellence, nor social bliss, 

Nor guardian law were his ; nor various skill 

To turn the furrow, or to guide the tool 

Mechanic ; nor the heav'n-conducted prow 

Of Navigation bold, that fearless braves 

The burning line or dares the wintry pole ; 

Mother severe of infinite delights ! 1770 

Nothing, save rapine, indolence, and guile, 

And woes on woes, a still-revolving train, 

Whose horrid circle had made human life 

Than non-existence worse ! But, taught by thee, 

Ours are the plans of policy and peace ; 

To live like brothers, and, conjunctive all. 

Embellish life. While thus laborious crowds 

Ply the tough oar. Philosophy directs 

The ruling helm ; or like the liberal breath 

Of potent Heaven, invisible, the sail ^'^^o 

Swells out, and bears th' inferior world along. 

Nor to this evanescent speck of earth 
Poorly confin'd, the radiant tracts on high 
Are her exalted range ; intent to gaze 
Creation through ; and, from that full complex 
Of never-ending wonders, to conceive 
Of the Sole Being right, who spohe the word, 
And Nature mov'd complete. With inward view. 
Thence on th' ideal kingdom swift she turns 
Her eye ; and instant, at her powerful glance, 1790 

Th' obedient phantoms vanish or appear, 
Compound, divide, and into order shift, 
Each to his rank, from plain perception up 
To the fair forms of Fancy's fleeting train : 
To reason then, deducing truth from truth ; 



SUMMER. 

And notion quite abstract ; where first begins 
The world of spirits, action all, and life 
Unfetter'd and immix'd. But here the cloud, 
So wills Eternal Providence, sits deep. 
Enough for us to know that this dark state, 
In wayward passions lost and vain pursuits. 
This infancy of being, cannot prove 
The final issue of the works of God, 
By boundless Love and perfect Wisdom formed, 
And ever rising with the rising mind. 



91 

1796 





AUTUMN. 



THE ARGUMENT. 

Tlie subject proposed. Addressed to Mr Onslow. A prospect of the fields 
ready for harvest. Reflections in praise of Industry, raised by that view. 
Reaping. A tale relative to it. A harvest storm. Shooting and hunting, 
their barbarity. A ludicrous account of fox-hunting. A vitw of an 
orchard. AVall -fruit. A vineyard. A description of fogs, frequent in 
the latter part of Autumn : whence a digression, inquiring into the rise of 
fountains and rivers. Birds of season considered, that now shift their 
habitation. The prodigious number of them that cover the northern and 
western isles of Scotland. Hence a view of the country. A prospect of 
the discoloured fading woods. After a gentle dusky day, moonlight. 
Autumnal meteors. Morning : to which succeeds a calm, pure, sunshiny 
day, such as usually shuts up the season. The harvest being gathered in, 
the country dissolved in joy. The whole concludes with a panegyric on 
a philosophical country life. 

Crown'd -with the sickle and the wheaten sheaf, 
While Autumn, nodding o'er the yellow plain. 
Comes jovial on ; the Doric reed once more, 
Well pleas 'd, I tune. Whate'er the Wintry frost 
Nitrous prepared, the various-blossom'd Spring 
Put in white promise forth, and Summer suns 
Concocted strong, rush boundless now to view. 
Full, perfect all, and swell my glorious theme. 
Onslow ! the Muse, ambitious of thy name, 
To grace, inspire, and dignify her song, lo 

Would from the public voice thy gentle ear 
A while engage. Thy noble care she knows, 
The patriot virtues that distend thy thought, 
Spread on thy front, and in thy bosom glow ; 




kjk 



AUTUMN. 93 

While listening senates hang upon thy tongue, 15 

Devolving through the maze of eloquence 
A roll of periods, sweeter than her song. * -^ 
But she too pants for public virtue ; slie, 
Though weak of pow'r, jet strong in ardent wiU. 
Whene'er her country rushes on her heart, 20 

Assumes a bolder note, and fondly tries 
To mix the patriot's with the poet's flame. 

When the bright Virgin gives the beauteous days, 
And Libra weighs in equal scales the year. 
From Heaven's high cope the fierce effulgence shook 
Of parting Summer, a serener blue. 
With golden light enliven'd, wide invests 
The happy world. Attemper'd suns arise, 
Sweet-beam'd, and shedding oft through lucid clouds 
A pleasing calm ; while, broad and brown, below 30 
Extensive harvests hang the heavy head. 
Rich, silent, deep, they stand ; for not a gale 
Rolls its light billows o'er the bending plain : 
A calm of plenty ! till the ruffled air 
Falls from its poise, and gives the breeze to blow 
Rent is the fleecy mantle of the sky ; 
The clouds fly difi'erent ; and the sudden sun 
By fits effiilgent gilds th' illumin'd field. 
And black by fits the shadows sweep along ; — 
A gaily checker'd heart-expanding view, ^o 

Far as the circling eye can shoot around. 
Unbounded, tossing in a flood of corn. 

These are thy blessings, Industry ! rough Pow'r, 
Whom labour still attends, and sweat, and pain ; 
Yet the kind source of every gentle art, 
And all the soft civility of life : 
Raiser of human kind ! by Nature cast, 
Naked and helpless, out amid the woods 



94 AUTUMN. 

And wilds, to nide inclement elements ; 49 

With various seeds of art deep in tlie mind 

Implanted, and profusely pour'd around 

Materials infinite ; but idle all 

Still unexerted, in th' unconscious breast 

Slept the lethargic powers ; Corruption still, 

Voracious, swallow'd what the liberal hand 

Of Bounty scatter'd o'er the savage year : 

And still the sad barbarian, roving, mix'd 

With beasts of prey ; or for his acorn meal 

Fought the fierce tusky boar ; — a shivering wretch, 

Aghast, and comfortless ! when the bleak North, 00 

With Winter charged, let the mix'd tempest fly, 

Hail, rain, and snow, and bitter-breathing frost : 

Then to the shelter of the hut he fled ; 

And the wild season, sordid, pin'd away. 

• For home he had not ; home is the resort 
Of love, of joy, of peace and plenty, where, 
Supporting and supported, polish'd friends 

• And dear relations mingle into bliss. 
But this the rugged savage never felt, 

Ev'n desolate in crowds ; and thus his days 70 

Roll'd heavy, dark, and unenjoy'd along : 

• A waste of time ! till Industry approach'd, 
And rous' d him from his miserable sloth ; 
His faculties unfolded ; pointed out 
Where lavish Nature the directing hand 

Of Art demanded ; show'd him how to raise 

His feeble force by the mechanic powers. 

To dig the mineral from the vaulted earth, 

On what to turn the piercina; rage of fire. 

On what the torrent, and the gather'd blast ; 80 

Gave the tall ancient forest to his axe ; 

Taught him to chip the wood, and hew the stone, 



AUTUMN. 95 

Till by degrees the finish'd fabric rose ; ^^83 

Tore from his limbs the blood-polluted fur, ^- 

And wrapt them in the wooUj vestment warm, 

Or bright in glossy silk and flowing lawn ; 

With wholesome viands fiU'd his table ; pour'd 

The generous glass around, inspir'd to wake 

The life-refining soul of decent wit : 

Nor stopp'd at barren bare necessity ; 90 

But, still advancing bolder, led him on 

To pomp, to pleasure, elegance, and grace ; 

And, breathing high ambition through his soul, 

Set science, wisdom, glory, in his view. 

And bade him be the lord of all below. • ■ — 

Then gathering men their natural powers combin'd, 
And form'd Si public ; to the general good 
Submitting, aiming, and conducting all. 
For this the patriot council met, the full, 
The free, and fairly represented whole ; ' 100 

For this they plann'd the holy guardian laws, 
Distinguish'd orders, animated arts. 
And, with joint force Oppression chaining, set 
Imperial Justice at the helm ; yet still 
To them accountable ; nor slavish dream'd 
That toiling millions must resign their weal, 
And all the honey of their search, to such 
As for themselves alone themselves have rais'd. 

Hence every form of cultivated life 
In order set, protected, and inspir'd, no 

Into perfection wrought. Uniting all, 
Society grew numerous, high, polite. 
And happy. Nurse of Art, the City rear'd 
In beauteous pride her tower-encircled head ; 
And, stretching street on street, by thousands drew. 



96 AUTUMN". 

From twining woodj haunts, or the tougli yew hq 

To bows strong-straining, her aspiring sons. 

Then Commerce brought into the pubHc walk 
The busy merchant ; the big warehouse built ; 
Rais'd the strong crane ; chok'd up the loaded street 
With foreign plenty ; and thy stream, Thames, 
Large, gentle, deep, majestic, king of floods ! 
Chose for his grand resort. On either hand. 
Like a long wintry forest, groves of masts 
Shot up their spires ; the bellying sheet between 
Possess'd the breezy void ; the sooty hulk 
Steer'd sluggish on ; the splendid barge along 
Row'd regular to harmony ; around, 
The boat, light-skimming, stretch'd its oary wings ; 
While deep the various voice of fervent Toil 130 

From bank to bank increased ; whence ribb'd with oak, 
To bear the British thunder, black and bold, 
The roaring vessel rush'd into the main. 

Then too the pillar'd dome, magnific, heav'd 
Its ample roof; and Luxury within 
Pour'd out her glittering stores : the canvas smooth, 
With glowing life protuberant, to the view 
Embodied rose ; the statue seem'd to breathe, 
And soften into flesh, beneath the touch 
Of forming Art, imagination-flush'd. i4o 

All is the gift of Industry ; whate'er 
Exalts, embellishes, and renders life 
Delightful, Pensive Winter, cheer'd by him, 
Sits at the social fire, and happy hears 
Th' excluded tempest idly rave along ; 
His harden'd fingers deck the gaudy Spring ; 
Without him. Summer were an arid waste, 
Nor to th' Autumnal months could thus transmit 



AUTUMN. 97 

Those full, mature, immeasurable stores, 149 

That, waving round, recall my wandering song. > — ■ 

Soon as the morning trembles o'er the skj, 
And, unperceivM, unfolds the spreading day, 
Before the ripen'd field the reapers stand. 
In fair array ; each by the lass he loves, 
To bear the rougher part, and mitigate 
By nameless gentle offices her toil. 
At once they stoop and swell the lusty sheaves ; 
While through their. cheerful band the rural talk, 
The rural scandal, and the rural jest, 
Fly harmless, to deceive the tedious time, 16O 

And steal unfelt the sultry hours away. 
Behind the master walks, builds up the shocks. 
And, conscious, glancing oft on every side 
His sated eye, feels his heart heave with joy. 
The gleaners spread around, and here and there, 
Spike after spike, their scanty harvest pick. 
Be not too narrow, husbandmen ; but fling 
From the full sheaf, with charitable stealth. 
The liberal handful. Think, oh, grateful think. 
How good the God of Harvest is to you, 170 

Who pours abundance o'er your flowing fields ! 
While these unhappy partners of your kind 
Wide-hover round you, like the fowls of heaven, 
And ask their humble dole. The various turns 
Of fortune ponder ; that your sons may want 
What now, with hard reluctance, faint, ye give. 

The lovely young Lavinia once had friends : 
And Fortune smil'd, deceitful, on her birth. 
For, in her helpless years depriv'd of all. 
Of every stay, save Innocence and Heaven, 180 

She, with her widow'd mother, feeble, old, 
And poor, liv'd in a cottage, far retir'd 

G 



98 AUTUMN. 

Among the windings of a woodj vale ; 183 

Bj solitude and deep surrounding shades, 
But more bj bashful modesty, conceard. 
Together thus they shunn'd the cruel scorn 
Which Virtue, sunk to poverty, would meet 
From giddy Fashion and low-minded Pride : 
Almost on Nature's common bounty fed ; 
Like the gay birds that sung them to repose, 190 

Content, and careless of to-morrow's fare. 
Her form was fresher than the morning-rose, 
When the dew wets its leaves ; unstain'd and pure, 
As is the lily or the mountain-snow. 
The modest virtues mingled in her eyes. 
Still on the ground dejected, darting all 
Their humid beams into the blooming flowers : 
Or when the mournful tale her mother told, 
Of what her faithless fortune promis'd once, 
Thrill'd in her thought, they, like the dewy star 200 
Of evening, shone in tears. A native grace 
Sat fair-proportion'd on her polish'd limbs, 
Veil'd in a simple robe, their best attire, 
•Beyond the pomp of dress ; for loveliness 
^s^'Needs not the foreign aid of ornament, 
"~ ♦ But is, when unadorn'd, adorn'd the most. 
Thoughtless of beauty, she was Beauty's self. 
Recluse amid the close-embowering woods. 
As in the hollow breast of Apennine, 
Beneath the shelter of encircling hills, 210 

A myrtle rises, far from human eye. 
And breathes its balmy fragrance o'er the wild ; 
So flourish'd, blooming, and unseen by all, 
The sweet Lavinia ; till at length, compell'd 
By strong Necessity's supreme command, 
With smiling patience in her looks, she went 



AUTUMN. 99 

To gleau Palemon's fields. The pride of swains 217 
Palemon was, the generous and the rich ; 
Who led the rural life in all its joj 
And elegance, such as Arcadian song 
Transmits from ancient uncorrupted times. 
When tyrant Custom had not shackled man, 
But free to follow Nature was the mode. 
He then, his fancy with autumnal scenes 
Amusing, chanc'd beside his reaper-train 
To walk, when poor Lavinia drew his eye ; 
Unconscious of her pow'r, and turning quick 
With unaffected blushes from his gaze : 
He saw her charming, but he saw not half 
The charms her downcast modesty conceal'd. 230 

That very moment love and chaste desire 
Sprung in his bosom to himself unknown ; 
For still the world prevailed, and its dread laugh, 
Which scarce the firm philosopher can scorn, 
Should his heart own a gleaner in the field : 
And thus in secret to his soul he sigh'd : 
" What pity, that so delicate a form. 
By beauty kindled, where enlivening sense 
And more than vulgar goodness seem to dwell, 
Should be devoted to the rude embrace -■^o 

Of some indecent clown ! She looks, methinks, 
Of old Acasto's line ; and to my mind 
Recalls that patron of my happy life. 
From whom my liberal fortune took its rise ; 
Now to the dust gone down ; his houses, lands. 
And once fair-spreading family, dissolved. 
'Tis said that in some lone obscure retreat, 
Urg'd by remembrance sad, and decent pride. 
Far from those scenes which knew their better days, 
His aged widow and his daughter live, 



100 AUTUMN. 

Whom yet my fruitless searcli could never find. 2.^1 

Romantic wish ! would this the daughter were ! " 

When, strict inquiring, from herself he found 
She was the same, the daughter of his friend, 
Of bountiful Acasto ; who can speak 
The mingled passions that surpris'd his heart, 
And through his nerves in shivering transport ran ? 
Then blaz'd his smother'd flame, avow'd and bold ; 
And as he view'd her, ardent, o'er and o'er, 
Love, gratitude, and pity wept at once. 260 

Confus'd, and frighten'd at his sudden tears, 
Her rising beauties flush'd a higher bloom, 
As thus Palemon, passionate and just, 
Pour'd out the pious rapture of his soul : 

" And art thou then Acasto's dear remains ? 
She whom my restless gratitude has sought 
So long in vain 1 heavens ! the very same ! 
The soften'd image of my noble friend ; 
Alive his every feature, every look. 
More elegantly touch'd ! Sweeter than Spring! 270 
Thou sole surviving blossom from the root 
That nourish'd up my fortune, say, ah ! where. 
In what sequester'd desart, hast thou drawn 
The kindest aspect of delighted Heaven ? 
Into such beauty spread, and blown so fair ; 
^ Though Poverty's cold wind and crushing rain 
Beat keen and heavy on thy tender years ? 
Oh, let me now into a richer soil 
Transplant thee safe, where vernal suns and showers 
DiflPuse their warmest, largest influence ; 28O 

And of my garden be the pride and joy! 
Ill it befits thee, oh, it ill befits 
Acasto's daughter — his, whose open stores, 
Though vast, were little to his ampler heart. 



AUTUMN. 101 

The father of a country — thus to pick 286 

The very refuse of those harvest-fields 

Which from his bounteous friendship I enjoy. 

Then throw that shameful pittance from thy hand, 

But ill applied to such a rugged task ; 

The fields, the master, all, my fair, are thine ; 290 

If, to the various blessings which thy house 

Has on me lavish'd, thou wilt add that bliss, 

That dearest bliss, the power of blessing thee ! " 

Here ceas'd the youth : yet still his speaking eye 
Expressed the sacred triumph of his soul. 
With conscious virtue, gratitude, and love, 
Above the vulgar joy divinely rais'd. 
Nor waited he reply. Won by the charm 
Of goodness irresistible, and all 

In sweet disorder lost, she blush'd consent. soo 

The news immediate to her mother brought. 
While, pierc'd with anxious thought, she pin'd away 
The lonely moments for Lavinia's fate ; 
Amaz'd, and scarce believing what she heard, 
Joy seiz'd her wither'd veins, and one bright gleam 
Of setting life shone on her evening hours : 
Not less enraptured than the happy pair, 
AVho flourish'd long in tender bliss, and rear'd 
A numerous offspring, lovely like themselves, 
And good, the grace of all the country round. 3io 

Defeating oft the labours of the year. 
The sultry South collects a potent blast. 
At first, the groves are scarcely seen to stir 
Their trembling tops ; and a still murmur runs 
Along the soft-inclining fields of corn. 
But as th' aerial tempest fuller swells, 
And in one mighty stream, invisible. 
Immense, the whole excited atmosphere 



102 AUTUMN". 

Impetuous rushes o'er tlie sounding world ; si 9 

Strain'd to the root, the stooping forest pours 

A rustling shower of yet untimely leaves. 

High-beat, the circling mountains eddy in, 

From the bare wild, the dissipated storm, 

And send it in a torrent down the Tale. 

Expos' d and naked to its utmost rage, 

Through all the sea of harvest rolling round, 

The billowy plain floats wide; nor can evade, 

Though pliant to the blast, its seizing force ; 

Or whirl'd in air, or into vacant chafi" 

Shook waste. And sometimes too a burst of rain, 330 

Swept from the black horizon, broad, descends 

In one continuous flood. Still overhead 

The mingling tempest weaves its gloom, and still 

The deluge deepens ; till the fields around 

Lie sunk and flatted in the sordid wave. 

Sudden, the ditches swell ; the meadows swim. 

Red, from the hills, innumerable streams 

Tumultuous roar, and high above its banks 

The river lift ; before whose rushing tide. 

Herds, flocks, and harvests, cottages and swains, 34o 

Roll mingled down ; all that the winds had spar'd 

In one wild moment ruin'd, the big hopes 

And well-earn'd treasures of the painful year. 

Fled to some eminence, the husbandman 

Helpless beholds the miserable wreck 

Driving along ; his drowning ox at once 

Descending, with his labours scatter'd round. 

He sees ; and instant o'er his shivering thought 

Comes Winter unprovided, and a train 

Of clamant children dear. Ye masters, then, 85o 

Be mindful of the rough laborious hand 

That sinks you soft in elegance and ease ; 



AUTUMN. 103 

Be mindful of those limbs in russet clad, 358 

Whose toil to jours is warmth and graceful pride ; 

And oh, be mindful of that sparing board 

Which covers yours with luxury profuse, 

Makes your glass sparkle, and your sense rejoice ; 

Nor cruelly demand what the deep rains 

And all-iuYolving winds have swept away ! 

Here the rude clamour of the sportsman's joy, 360 
The gun fast-thund' ring, and the winded horn. 
Would tempt the Muse to sing the rural game : 
How, in his mid career, the spaniel, struck 
Stiff by the tainted gale, with open nose, 
Outstretch'd and finely sensible, draws fuU, 
.Fearful, and cautious, on the latent prey; 
As in the sun the circling covey bask 
Their varied plumes, and, watchful every way, 
Through the rough stubble turn the secret eye. 
Caught in the meshy snare, in vain they beat 370 

Their idle wings, entangled more and more : 
Nor on the surges of the boundless air. 
Though borne triumphant, are they safe ; the gun, 
Glanc'd just and sudden from the fowler's eye, 
O'ertakes their sounding pinions, and again. 
Immediate, brings them from the towering wing, 
Dead to the ground ; or drives them, wide dispers'd. 
Wounded, and wheeling various, down the wind. 

These are not subjects for the peaceful Muse, 
Nor will she stain with such her spotless song ; 380 

Then most delighted, when she social sees 
The whole mix'd animal creation round 
Alive and happy. 'Tis not joy to her, 
This falsely-cheerful, barbarous game of death ; 
This rage of pleasure, which the restless youth 
Awakes, impatient, with the gleaming morn ; 



104 AUTUMN. 

When beasts of prej retire, that all night long, 387 

Urg'd by necessity, had rangM the dark, 

As if their conscious ravage shunn'd the light, 

Asham'd. Not so the steady tyrant Man, 

Who, with the thoughtless insolence of pow'r 

Inflam'd, beyond the most infuriate wrath 

Of the worst monster that e'er roam'd the waste, 

For sport alone pursues the cruel chase, 

Amid the beamings of the gentle days. 

Upbraid, ye rav'ning tribes, our wanton rage. 

For hunger kindles you, and lawless want ; 

But, lavish fed, in Nature's bounty roU'd, 

To joy at anguish, and delight in blood, 

Is what your horrid bosoms never knew. 400 

Poor is the triumph o'er the timid hare ! 
Scar'd from the corn, and now to some lone seat 
Retir'd : the rushy fen ; the rugged furze, 
Stretch'd o'er the stony heath ; the stubble chapp'd ; 
The thistly lawn ; the thick-entangled broom ; 
Of the same friendly hue, the wither'd fern ; 
The fallow ground laid open to the sun, 
Concoctive ; and the nodding sandy bank. 
Hung o'er the mazes of the mountain brook. 
Vain is her best precaution ; though she sits 4io 

Conceal'd, with folded ears ; unsleeping eyes. 
By Nature rais'd to take th' horizon in ; 
And head couch'd close betwixt her hairy feet, 
In act to spring away. The scented dew 
Betrays her early labyrinth ; and deep. 
In scatter'd sullen openings, far behind, 
With every breeze she hears the coming storm. 
But nearer, and more frequent, as it loads 
The sighing gale, she springs amaz'd, and all 
The savage soul of game is up at once : 420 



AUTUMN. 105 

The pack full opening, various ; the shrill horn 421 

Resounded from the hills ; the neighing steed, 
Wild for the chase ; and the loud hunter's shout ; 
O'er a weak, harmless, flying creature, all 
Mix'd in mad tumult and discordant joy. 

The stag, too, singled from the herd, where long 
He rang'd the branching monarch of the shades, . 
Before the tempest drives. At first, in speed 
He, sprightly, puts his faith ; and, rous'd by fear. 
Gives all his swift aerial soul to flight ; 430 

Against the breeze he darts, that way the more 
To leave the lessening murderous cry behind : 
Deception short ! though, fleeter than the winds S 
Blown o'er the keen-air'cl mountain by the North, 
He bursts the thickets, glances through the glades, 
And plunges deep into the wildest wood ; 
If slow, yet sure, adhesive to the track 
Hot-steaming, up behind him come again 
Th' inhuman rout, and from the shady depth 
Expel him, circling through his ev'ry shift. 440 

He sweeps the forest oft ; and sobbing sees 
The glades, mild opening to the golden day, 
Where, in kind contest, with his butting friends 
He wont to struggle, or his loves enjoy. 
Oft in the full-descending flood he tries 
To lose the scent, and lave his burning sides : 
Oft seeks the herd ; the watchful herd, alarm'd, 
With selfish care avoid a brother's woe. 
What shall he do 1 His once so vivid nerves. 
So full of buoyant spirit, now no more 450 

Inspire the course ; but fainting breathless toil. 
Sick, seizes on his heart : he stands at bay. 
And puts his last weak refuge in despair. 
The big round tears run down his dappled face ; 



106 AUTUMN. 

He gi'oans in anguish ; while the growling pack, 455 

Blood-happj, hang at his fair jutting chest, 

And mark his beauteous checker'd sides with gore. 

Of this enough. But if the sylvan youth, 
AVhose fervent blood boils into violence, 
Must have the chase, behold, despising flight, 460 

The rousM-up lion, resolute and slow, 
V Advancing full on the protended spear, 
And coward band that circling wheel aloof- 
Slunk from the cavern, and the troubled wood, 
See the grim wolf; on him his shaggy foe 
Vindictive fix, and let the ruffian die : 
Or, growling horrid, as the brindled boar 
Grins fell destruction, to the monster's heart 
Let the dart lighten from the nervous arm. 

These Britain knows not ; give, ye Britons, then, 470 
Your sportive fury, pitiless, to pour 
Loose on the nightly robber of the fold : 
Him, from his craggy winding haunts unearthed. 
Let all the thunder of the chase pursue. 
Throw the broad ditch behind you ; o'er the hedge 
High bound, resistless ; nor the deep morass 
Refuse, but through the shaking wilderness 
Pick your nice way ; into the perilous flood 
Bear fearless, of the raging instinct full ; 
And as you ride the torrent, to the banks 480 

Your triumph sound sonorous, running round, 
From rock to rock, in circling echoes toss'd ; 
Then scale the mountains to their woody tops ; 
Rush down the dangerous steep ; and o'er the lawn,. 
In fancy swallowing up the space between. 
Pour all your speed into the rapid game ; 
For happy he who tops the wheeling chase ; 
Has every maze evolv'd, and every guile 



AUTUMN. 107 

DisclosM ; who knows the merits of the pack ; 489 

Who saw the yillain seiz 'd, and dying hard, 
Without comjDlaint, though by a hundred mouths 
Relentless torn : glorious he, beyond 
His daring peers ! when the retreating horn 
Calls them to ghostly halls of grey renown, 
With woodland honours grac'd ; the fox's fur 
Depending decent from the roof; and spread 
Round the drear walls, with antic figures fierce, 
The stag's large front : he then is loudest heard, 
When the night staggers with severer toils, 
With feats Thessalian Centaurs never knew, fioo 

And their repeated wonders shake the dome. 
But first the fuell'd chimney blazes wide ; 
The tankards foam ; and the strong table groans 
Beneath the smoking sirloin, stretch'd immense 
From side to side ; in which, with desp'rate knife, 
They deep incision make, and talk the while 
Of England's glory, ne'er to be defac'd 
While hence they borrow vigour : or amain 
Into the pasty plung'd, at intervals, 
If stomach keen can intervals allow, 5io 

Relating all the glories of the chase. 
Then sated Hunger bids his brother Thirst 
Produce the mighty bowl : the mighty bowl, 
Swell'd high with fiery juice, steams liberal round 
A potent gale, delicious as the breath S 
Of Maia to the love-sick shepherdess. 
On violets diffus'd, while soft she hears 
Her panting shepherd stealing to her arms. 
Nor wanting is the brown October, drawn, 
Mature and perfect, from his dark retreat 520 

Of thirty years ; and now his honest front 
Flames in the light refulgent, not afraid 



108 AUTUMN". 

Even with the vineyard's best produce to vie. -23 

To cheat the thirsty moments, Whist a while 

Walks his dull round, beneath a cloud of smoke. 

Wreath' d, fragrant, from the pipe ; or the quick dice, 

In thunder leaping from the box, awake 

The sounding gammon : while romp-loving miss 

Is haul'd about, in gallantry robust. 

At last these puling idlenesses laid 530 

Aside, frequent and full, the dry divan 
Close in firm circle ; and set ardent in 
For serious drinking. Nor evasion sly, 
Nor sober shift, is to the puking wretch 
Indulg'd apart ; but earnest, brimming bowls 
Lave every soul, the table floating round, 
And pavement faithless to the fuddled foot. 
Thus as they swim in mutual swill, the talk, 
Vociferous at once from twenty tongues. 
Reels fast from theme to theme ; from horses, hounds, 
To church or mistress, politics or ghost, 541 

In endless mazes, intricate, perplex'd. 
Meantime, with sudden interruption, loud, 
Th' impatient catch bursts from the joyous heart ; 
That moment touch'd is every kindred soul ; 
And, opening in a fuU-mouth'd cry of joy, 
The laugh, the slap, the jocund curse go round ; 
While, from their slumbers shook, the kennell'd hounds 
Mix in the music of the day again. 
As when the tempest that has vex'd the deep 550 

The dark night long, with fainter murmurs falls ; 
So gradual sinks their mirth. Their feeble tongues, 
Unable to take up the cumbrous word. 
Lie quite dissolv'd. Before their maudlin eyes, 
Seen dim and blue, the double tapers dance, 
Like the sun wading through the misty sky. 



AUTUMN. ^ 109 

Tlien, sliding soft, they drop. Confus'd above, 557 

Glasses and bottles, pipes and gazetteers, 

As if the table ev'n itself was drunk, 

Lie — a Tret, broken scene : and wide, below, 

Is heap'd the social slaughter ; where astride 

The lubber Pow'r in filthy triumph sits. 

Slumbrous, inclining still from side to side. 

And steeps them drench'd in potent sleep till morn. 

Perhaps some doctor, of tremendous paunch, 

Awful and deep, a black abyss of drink, 

Outlives them all ; and from his buried flock 

Retiring, full of rumination sad, 

Laments the weakness of these latter times, • —■■ 

But if the rougher sex by this fierce sport 570 

Is hurried wild, let not such horrid joy 
E'er stain the bosom of the British fair. 
Far be the spirit of the chase from them ! 
Uncomely courage, unbeseeming skill, 
To spring the fence, to rein the prancing steed ; 
The cap, the whip, the masculine attire ; 
In which they roughen to the sense, and all 
The winning softness of their sex is lost. 
In them 'tis graceful to dissolve at woe ; 
With every motion, every word, to wave 580 

Quick o'er the kindling cheek the ready blush ; 
And from the smallest violence to shrink 
Unequal, then the loveliest in their fears ; 
And, by this silent adulation, soft. 
To their protection more engaging man. 
Oh, may their eyes no miserable sight. 
Save weeping lovers, see ! a nobler game. 
Through Love's enchanting wiles pursu'd, yet fled. 
In chase ambiguous. May their tender limbs 
Float in the loose simplicity of dress ! 



110 AUTUMN. 

And, fasliion'd all to harmony, alone 691 

Know they to seize the captivated soul, 

In rapture warbled from love-breathing lips ; 

To teach the lute to languish ; with smooth step, 

Disclosing motion in its every charm. 

To swim along, and swell the mazy dance ; 

To train the foliage o'er the snowy lawn ; 

To guide the pencil, turn the tuneful page ; 

To lend new flavour to the fruitful year. 

And heighten Nature's dainties ; in their race, eoo 

To rear their graces into second life ; 

To give society its highest taste ; 

Well-order'd home man's best dehght to make ; 

And, by submissive wisdom, modest skill, 

With every gentle care-eluding art. 

To raise the virtues, animate the bliss, 

And sweeten all the toils of human life : 

This be the female dignity and praise. 

Ye swains, now hasten to the hazel-bank ; 
Where, down yon dale, the wildly-winding brook 6io 
Falls hoarse from steep to steep. In close array, 
Fit for the thickets and the tangling shrub. 
Ye virgins, come. For you their latest song 
The woodlands raise : the clustering nuts for you 
The lover finds amid the secret shade ; 
And, where they burnish on the topmost bough. 
With active vigour crushes down the tree ; 
Or shakes them ripe from the resigning husk, 
A glossy shower, and of an ardent brown. 
As are the ringlets of Melinda's hair : 6-'0 

Melinda ! form'd with every grace complete, 
Yet these neglecting, above beauty wise. 
And far transcending such a vulgar praise. 

Hence from the busy joy-resounding fields. 
In cheerful error, let us tread the maze 



AUTUMN. Ill 

Of Autumn, unconfin'd ; and taste, reviv'd, 626 

The breath of orchard bio; with bendino; fruit. 

Obedient to the breeze and beating raj, 

From the deep-loaded bough a mellow shower 

Incessant melts awaj. The juicy pear 

Lies, in a soft profusion, scatter'd round. 

A various sweetness swells the gentle race, 

Bj Nature's all-refining hand prepar 'd ; 

Of temper'd sun and water, earth and air, 

In ever-changing composition mix'd. 

Such, falling frequent through the chiller night, 

The fragrant stores, the wide-projected heaps 

Of apples, which the lusty-handed Year, 

Innumerous, o'er the blushing orchard shakes. 

A various spirit, fresh, delicious, keen, 64o 

Dwells in their gelid pores ; and, active, points 

The piercing cider for the thirsty tongue : 

Thy native theme, and boon inspirer too, 

PhiUips, Pomona's bard ; the second thou 

Who nobly durst, in rhyme-unfetter'd verse, 

With British freedom sing the British song : 

How, from Silurian ^ vats, high-sparkling wines 

Foam in transparent floods ; some strong, to cheer 

The wintry revels of the labouring hind ; 

And tasteful some, to cool the summer hours. 6 so 

In this glad season, while his sweetest beams 
The Sun sheds equal o'er the meeken'd day; 
Oh, lose me in the green delightful walks 
Of, Dodington, thy seat, serene and plain ; 
Where simple Nature reigns ; and every view. 
Diffusive, spreads the pure Dorsetian downs, 
In boundless prospect ; yonder shagg'd with wood. 
Here rich with harvest, and there white with flocks ! 

' ' Silurian : ' the principal cyder counties, to the west of the Severn, were 
anciently inhabited by the Silurian Britons. 



112 AUTUMN. 

Meantime the grandeur of thj lofty dome, 659 

Far splendid, seizes on tlie ravisli'd eye. 

New beauties rise witli each revolving day ; 

New columns swell, and still the fresh Spring finds 

New plants to quicken, and new groves to green. 

Full of thy genius all ! the Muses' seat : 

Where, in the secret bower and winding walk, 

For virtuous Young and thee they twine the bay. 

Here wandering oft, fir'd with the restless thirst 

Of thy applause, I solitary court 

Th' inspiring breeze, and meditate the book 

Of Nature ever open ; aiming thence, 670 

Warm from the heart, to learn the moral song. 

And as I steal along the sunny wall. 

Where Autumn basks, with fruit empurpled deep, 

My pleasing theme continual prompts my thought ; 

Presents the downy peach ; the shining plum, 

With a fine bluish mist of animals 

Clouded ; the ruddy nectarine ; and dark, 

Beneath his ample leaf, the luscious fig. 

The vine too here her curling tendrils shoots ; 

Hangs out her clusters, glowing to the South ; eso 

And scarcely wishes for a warmer sky. 

Turn we a moment Fancy's rapid flight 
To vigorous soils, and climes of fair extent ; 
Where, by the potent sun elated high, 
The vineyard swells refulgent on the day ; 
Spreads o'er the vale ; or up the mountain climbs, 
Profuse ; and drinks, amid the sunny rocks, 
From cliff to cliff" increas' d, the heighteu'd blaze. 
Low bend the weighty boughs. The clusters clear, 
Half through the foliage seen, or ardent flame, 690 

Or shine transparent ; while perfection breathes 
White o'er the turgid film the living dew. 



AUTUMN. 113 

As thus they brigliten with exalted juice, 693 

Touch'd into flavour by the mingling raj, 

The rural youth and virgins o'er the field. 

Each fond for each to cull th' autumnal prime, 

Exulting rove, and speak the vintage nigh. 

Then comes the crushing swain ; the country floats, 

And foams unbounded with the mashy flood, 

That, by degrees fermented and refin'd, 7oo 

Round the rais'd nations pours the cup of joy: 

The Claret smooth, red as the lip we press 

In sparkhng fancy, while we drain the bowl ; 

The mellow-tasted Burgundy ; and, quick 

As is the wit it gives, the gay Champagne. 

Now, by the cool declining year condens'd. 
Descend the copious exhalations, check'd 
As up the middle sky unseen they stole, 
And roll the doubling fogs around the hill. 
No more the Mountain, horrid, vast, sublime, no 

Who pours a sweep of rivers from his sides, 
And high between contending kingdoms rears 
The rocky long division, fills the view 
With great variety ; but, in a night 
Of gathering vapour, from the baffled sense 
Sinks dark and dreary. Thence expanding far. 
The huge dusk, gradual, swallows up the plain : 
Vanish the woods ; the dim-seen river seems 
Sullen and slow to roll the misty wave. 
Ev'n in the height of noon oppress'd, the Sun 72o 

Sheds weak and blunt his wide-refracted ray ; 
Whence glaring oft, with many a broaden'd orb, 
He frights the nations. Indistinct on earth. 
Seen through the turbid air, beyond the life 
Objects appear ; and, wilder'd, o'er the waste 
The shepherd stalks gigantic ; till at last, 

H 



114 AUTUMN. 

Wreath 'd dun around, in deeper circles still 727 

Successive closing, sits the general fog 

Unbounded o'er the world ; and, mingling thick, 

A formless grey confusion covers all. 

As when of old (so sung the Hebrew bard) 

Light, uncollected, through the Chaos urgM 

Its infant way ; nor Order yet had drawn 

His lovely train from out the dubious gloom. 

These roving mists, that constant now begin 
To smoke along the hilly country, these. 
With weighty rains, and melted Alpine snows, 
The mountain- cisterns fill ; those ample stores 
Of water, scoop'd among the hollow rocks, 739 

Whence gush the streams, the ceaseless fountains plaj, 
And their unfailins; wealth the rivers draw. 
Some sages say, that, where the numerous wave 
For ever lashes the resounding shore, 
Drill'd through the sandy stratum, every way. 
The waters with the sandy stratum rise ; 
Amid whose angles infinitely strain'd, 
They joyful leave their jaggy salts behind, 
And clear and sweeten, as they soak along. 
Nor stops the restless fluid, mounting still, 
V Though oft amidst th' irriguous vale it springs ; 750 

But to the mountain courted by the sand. 
That leads it darkling on in faithful maze. 
Far from the parent-main, it boils again 
Fresh into day, and all the glittering hill 
Is bright with spouting rills. But hence this vain 
Amusive dream ! why should the waters love 
To take so far a journey to the hills. 
When the sweet valleys ofier to their toil 
Inviting quiet, and a nearer bed ? 
Or if, by blind Ambition led astray, 



AUTUMN. 115 

Tliey must aspire, why should thej sudden stop 76i 

Among the broken mountain's rushy dells, 

And, ere they gain its highest peak, desert 

Th' attractive sand that charm'd their course so long ? 

Besides, the hard agglomerating salts. 

The spoil of ages, would impervious choke 

Their secret channels, or, by slow degrees, 

High as the hills protrude the swelling vales. 

Old Ocean, too, suck'd through the porous globe, 

Had long ere now forsook his horrid bed, 770 

And brought Deucalion's watery times again. 

Say then, where lurk the vast eternal springs, 
That, like creating Nature, lie conceal'd 
From mortal eye, yet with their lavish stores 
Refresh the globe and all its joyous tribes 1 
thou pervading Genius, given to Man, 
To trace tlie secrets of the dark abyss. 
Oh, lay the mountains bare, and wide display 
Their hidden structure to th' astonish'd view ! 
Strip from the branching Alps their piny load ; rso 
The huge incumbrance of horrific woods 
From Asian Taurus, from Imaus stretch'd 
Athwart the roving Tartar's sullen bounds ! 
Give opening Hsemus to my searching eye. 
And high Olympus, pouring many a stream ! 
Oh, from the sounding summits of the north, 
The Dofrine Hills, through Scandinavia roll'd 
To farthest Ljfpland and the Frozen Main ; 
From lofty Caucasus, far seen by those 
Who in the Caspian and black Euxine toil ; 'rso 

From cold Riphsean rocks, which the wild Russ 
Believes the stony girdle of the world ; 
And all the dreadful mountains, wrapt in storm, 
Whence wide Siberia draws her lonely floods ; 



116 AUTUMN. 

Oh, sweep th' eternal snows ! Hung o'er the deep, 795 

That ever works beneath his sounding baso, 

Bid Atlas, propping heaven, as poets feign. 

His subterranean wonders spread ! Unveil 

The minj caverns, blazing on the day, 

Of Abyssinia's cloud-compelling cliffs, 800 

And of the bending Mountains of the Moon ! 

O'ertopping all these giant-sons of earth, 

Let the dire Andes, from the radiant Line 

Stretch'd to the stormy seas that thunder round 

The Southern Pole, their hideous deeps unfold ! 

Amazing scene ! Behold ! the glooms disclose ! 

I see the rivers in their infant beds ! 

Deep, deep I hear them labouring to get free ! 

1 see the leaning strata, artful rang'd ; 

The gaping fissures, to receive the rains, 810 

The melting snows, and ever-dripping fogs. 

Strew'd bibulous above I see the sands, 

The pebbly gravel next, the layers then 

Of mingled moulds, of more retentive earths. 

The gutter'd rocks and mazy-running clefts, 

That, while the stealing moisture they transmit, 

Retard its motion, and forbid its waste. 

Beneath th' incessant weeping of these drains, 

I see the rocky siphons stretch'd immense, 

The mighty reservoirs, of harden'd chalk, 820 

Or stiff compacted clay, capacious form'd. 

O'erflowing thence, the congregated stores, 

The crystal treasures of the liquid world, 

Through the stirr'd sands a bubbling passage burst ; 

And welling out around the middle steep, 

Or from the bottoms of the bosom'd hills, 

In pure effusion flow. United thus, 

Th' exhahng sun. the vapour-burden'd air. 



AUTUMN. 117 

The gelid mountains, that, to rain condens'd, 829 

These vapours in continual current draw. 

And send them, o'er the fair-divided earth, 

In bounteous rivers to the deep again, 

A social commerce hold, and firm support 

The full-adjusted harmony of things. 

When Autumn scatters his departing gleams, 
Warn'd of approaching Winter, gather'd, play 
The swallow-people ; and toss'd wide around, 
O'er the calm sky, in convolution swift. 
The feather'd eddy floats : rejoicing once. 
Ere to their wintry slumbers they retire, 84o 

In clusters clung, beneath the mouldering bank, 
And where, unpierc'd by frost, the cavern sweats, 
Or rather, into warmer climes convey'd. 
With other kindred birds of season, there 
They twitter cheerful, till the vernal months 
Invite them welcome back : for, thronging, now 
Innumerous wings are in commotion all. 

Where the Rhine loses his majestic force 
In Belgian plains, won from the raging deep 
By diligence amazing, and the strong 850 

Unconquerable hand of Liberty, 
The stork-assembly meets ; for many a day. 
Consulting deep and various, ere they take 
Their arduous voyage through the liquid sky. 
And now, their route design'd, their leaders chose. 
Their tribes adjusted, clean'd their vigorous wings, 
And many a circle, many a short essay, 
Wheel'd round and round, in congregation full 
The figur'd flight ascends, and, riding high 
Th' aerial billows, mixes with the clouds. 860 

Or where the Northern Ocean, in vast whirls, 
Boils round the naked melancholy isles 



118 AUTUMN. 

Of farthest Thule, and th' Atlantic surge sey 

Pours in among the stormy Hebrides ; 
Who can recount what transmigrations there 
Are annual made 1 what nations come and go ? 
And how the living clouds on clouds arise — 
Infinite wings !- — till all the plume-dark air 
And rude-resounding shore are one wild cry 1 

Here the plain harmless native his small flock, 870 
And herd diminutive of many hues, 
Tends on the little island's verdant swell. 
The shepherd's sea-girt reign ; or, to the rocks 
Dire-clinging, gathers his ovarious food ; 
Or sweeps the fishy shore ; or treasures up 
The plumage, rising full, to form the bed 
Of luxury. And here a while the Muse, 
High hovering o'er the broad cerulean scene. 
Sees Caledonia, in romantic view : 
Her airy mountains, from the waving main, 880 

Invested with a keen difiusive sky, 
Breathing the soul acute ; her forests huge, 
Incult, robust, and tall, by Natm-e's hand 
Planted of old ; her azure lakes between, 
Pour'd out extensive, and of watery wealth 
Full ; winding deep and green, her fertile vales ; 
With many a cool, translucent, brimming flood 
Wasli'd lovely, from the Tweed (pure parent-stream, 
Whose pastoral banks first heard my Doric reed, 
With, sylvan Jed, thy tributary brook) 890 

To where the north-inflated tempest foams 
O'er Orca's or Betubium's highest peak : 
Nurse of a people, in Misfortune's school 
Train'd up to hardy deeds ; soon visited 
By Learning, when before the Gothic rage 
She took her western flight. A manly race. 



AUTUMN. 119 

Of unsubmitting spirit, wise and brave ; 897 

Who still through bleeding ages struggled hard 

(As well unhappy Wallace can attest, — 

Great patriot-hero ! ill-requited chief !) 

To hold a generous undiminish'd state ; 

Too much in vain! Hence of unequal bounds 

Impatient, and by tempting glorj borne 

O'er every land, for every land their life 

Has flow'd profuse, their piercing genius plann'd, 

And swell'd the pomp of peace their faithful toil : 

As from their own clear North, in radiant streams, 

Bright over Europe bursts the Boreal Morn. 

Oh ! is there not some patriot, in whose power 
That best, that godlike luxury is placM, sio 

Of blessing thousands, thousands yet unborn, 
Through late posterity 1 some, large of soul, 
To cheer dejected Industry, to give 
A double harvest to the pining swain, 
And teach the labouring hand the sweets of toil 'i 
How, by the finest art, the native robe 
To weave ; how, white as Hyperborean snow, 
To form the lucid lawn ; with venturous oar 
How to dash wide the billow ; nor look on, 
Shamefully passive, while Batavian fleets 920 

Defraud us of the glittering finny swarms 
That heave our friths, and crowd upon our shores ; 
How all-enlivening trade to rouse, and wing 
The prosperous sail, from every growing port, 
Uninjur''d, round the sea-encircled globe ; 
And thus, in soul united as in name. 
Bid Britain reign the mistress of the deep 1 

Yes, there are such. And full on thee, Argyle, 
Her hope, her stay, her darling, and her boast, 
From her first patriots and her heroes sprung, 



120 AUTUMN. 

Thj fond imploring Country turns her eje : 93i 

In thee, with all a mother's triumph, sees 
Her every virtue, every grace combin' d ; 
Her genius, wisdom, her engaging turn, 
Her pride of honour, and her courage tried, 
Calm and intrepid, in the very throat 
Of sulph'rous war, on Tenier's dreadful field. 
Nor less the palm of peace inwreathes thy brow : 
^For, powerful as thy sword, from thy rich tongue 
Persuasion flows, and wins the high debate ; 940 

While mix'd in thee combine the charm of youth, 
..The force of manhood, and the depth of age. 
Thee, Forbes, too, whom every worth attends, 
As Truth sincere, as weeping Friendship kind, 
Thee, truly generous, and in silence great. 
Thy country feels through her reviving arts, 
Plann'd by thy wisdom, by thy soul informed ; 
And seldom has she known a friend like thee. 

But see, the fading many-colour'd woods. 
Shade deepening over shade, the country round 950 
Imbrown ; a crowded umbrage, dusk and dun. 
Of every hue, from wan declining green 
To sooty dark. These now the lonesome Muse, 
Low-whispering, lead into their leaf-strewn walks. 
And give the season in its latest view. 

Meantime, light-shadowing all, a sober calm , 
Fleeces unbounded ether ; whose least wave 
Stands tremulous, uncertain where to turn 
The gentle current; while, illumined wide. 
The dewy-skirted clouds imbibe the Sun, 960 

And through their lucid veil his soften'd force 
Shed o'er the peaceful world. Then is the time 
For those whom Wisdom and whom Nature charm 
To steal themselves from the degenerate crowd, 



AUTUMN. 121 

And soar above this little scene of things ; 965 

To tread low-thoughted Vice beneath their feet ; 
To soothe the throbbing passions into peace, 
And woo lone Quiet in her silent walks. 

Thus solitary, and in pensive guise. 
Oft let me wander o'er the russet mead, 970 

And through the sadden'd grove, where scarce is heard 
One dying strain, to cheer the woodman's toil. 
Haply some widow'd songster pours his plaint. 
Far, in faint warblings, through the tawny copse; 
While congregated thrushes, linnets, larks. 
And each wild throat, whose artless strains so late 
Swell'd all the music of the swarming shades, 
Robb'd of their tuneful souls, now shivering sit 
On the dead tree, a dull despondent flock, 
With not a brightness waving o'er their plumes, 98o 
And naught save chattering discord in their note. 
Oh, let not, aim'd from some inhuman eye, 
The gun the music of the coming year 
Destroy ; and harmless, unsuspecting harm, 
Lay the weak tribes a miserable prey. 
In mingled murder, fluttering on the ground ! 

The pale descending j^ear, yet pleasing still, 
A gentler mood inspires ; for now the leaf 
Incessant rustles from the mournful grove, 
Oft startling such as, studious, walk below, 990 

And slowly circles through the waving air. 
But should a quicker breeze amid the boughs 
Sob, o'er the sky the leafy deluge streams ; 
Till, chok'd and matted with the dreary shower, 
The forest-walks, at every rising gale. 
Roll wide the wither'd waste, and whistle bleak 
Fled is the blasted verdure of the fields : 
And, shrunk into their beds, the flowery race 



122 AUTUMN. 

Their sunny robes resign. Even what remaiu'd 999 
Of stronger fruits falls from the naked tree ; 
And woods, fields, gardens, orchards, all around 
The desolated prospect thrills the soul. 

He comes ! he comes ! in every breeze the Pow'r 
Of Philosophic Melancholy comes ! 
His near approach the sudden-starting tear, 
The glowing cheek, the mild dejected air. 
The soften'd feature, and the beating heart, 
Pierc'd deep with many a virtuous pang, declare. 
O'er all the soul his sacred influence breathes ; 
Inflames imagination, through the breast 1010 

Infuses every tenderness, and far 
Beyond dim earth exalts the swelling thought. 
Ten thousand thousand fleet ideas, such 
As never mingled with the vulgar dream, 
Crowd fast into the Mind's creative eye. 
As fast the correspondent passions rise. 
As varied, and as high : Devotion, rais'd 
To rapture and divine astonishment ; 
The love of Nature unconfin' d, and, chief, 
Of human race ; the large ambitious wish 1020 

To make them blest ; the sigh for sufiering worth 
Lost in obscurity ; the noble scorn 
Of tyrant-pride ; the fearless great resolve ; 
The wonder which the dying patriot draws, 
Inspiring glory through remotest time ; 
Th' awaken'd throb for virtue and for fame ; 
The sympathies of love and friendship dear ; 
With all the social ofispring of the heart. 

Oh, bear me then to vast embowering shades, 
To twilight groves, and visionary vales, 1030 

To weeping grottoes and prophetic glooms, 
Where angel-forms athwart the solemn dusk 



AUTUMN. - 123 

Tremendous sweep, or seem to sweep, along ; 1033 

And voices more than human, through the void 
Deep-sounding, seize th' enthusiastic ear ! 

Or is this gloom too much '? Then lead, ye Powers 
That o'er the garden and the rural seat 
Preside, which shining through the cheerful land 
In countless numbers blest Britannia sees ; 
Oh, lead me to the wide-extended walks, 1040 

The fair majestic paradise of Stowe !^ 
Not Persian Cyrus on Ionia's shore 
E'er saw such sylvan scenes ; such various art 
By genius fir'd, such ardent genius tam'd 
By cool judicious art ; that, in the strife, 
AU-beauteous Nature fears to be outdone. 
And there, Pitt ! thy country's early boast, 
There let me sit beneath the shelter'd slopes, 
Or in that Temple ^ where, in future times, 
Thou well shalt merit a distinguish'd name ; 1050 

And, with thy converse blest, catch the last smiles 
Of Autumn beaming o'er the yellow woods. 
While there with thee th' enchanted round I walk, 
The regulated wild, gay Fancy then 
Will tread in thought the groves of Attic land ; 
Will from thy standard taste refine her own. 
Correct her pencil to the purest truth 
Of Nature, or, the unimpassion'd shades 
Forsaking, raise it to the human mind. 
Or if hereafter she, with juster hand, 106O 

Shall draw the tragic scene, instruct her thou, 
To mark the varied movements of the heart. 
What every decent character requires. 
And every passion speaks ! Oh, through her strain * 

' 'Stowe:' the seat of the Lord Viscount Cobham. — * 'Temple:' the 
Temple of Virtue in Stowe Gardens. 



124 AUTUMN. 

Breathe thj pathetic eloquence, that moulds io65 

Th' attentive senate, charms, persuades, exalts. 
Of honest zeal th' indignant lightning throws. 
And shakes Corruption on her venal throne ! 
While thus we talk, and through Eljsian vales 
Delighted rove, perhaps a sigh escapes : — io70 

What pitj, Cobham ! thou thy verdant files 
Of order'd trees shouldst here inglorious range. 
Instead of squadrons flaming o'er the field. 
And long-embattled hosts ; when the proud foe, 
The faithless, vain disturber of mankind. 
Insulting Gaul, has rous'd the world to war ; 
When, keen once more within their bounds to press 
Those polish'd robbers, those ambitious slaves. 
The British youth would hail thy wise command, 
Thy temper'd ardour and thy veteran skill ! loso 

The western sun withdraws the shorten'd day ; 
And humid Evening, gliding o'er the sky. 
In her chill progress, to the ground condens'd 
The vapours throws. Where creeping waters ooze. 
Where marshes stagnate, and where rivers wdnd. 
Cluster the rolling fogs, and swim along 
The dusky-mantled lawn. Meanwhile the Moon, 
Full-orb'd, and breaking through the scatter'd clouds, 
Shows her broad visage in the crimson'd east. 
Turn'd to the Sun direct, her spotted disk — looo 

Where mountains rise, umbrageous dales descend, 
And caverns deep, as optic tube descries, 
A smaller earth — gives us his blaze again, 
Void of its flame, and sheds a softer day. 
Now through the passing cloud she seems to stoop, 
Now up the pure cerulean rides sublime. 
Wide the pale deluge floats, and streaming mild 
O'er the sky'd mountain to the shadowy vale. 



AUTUMN. 125 

While rocks and floods reflect the quivering gleam, 1099 

The whole air whitens with a boundless tide 

Of silver radiance, trembling round the world. • --- 

But when, half-blotted from the skj, her light, 
Fainting, permits the starry fires to burn 
With keener lustre through the depth of heaven ; 
Or near extinct her deaden'd orb appears, 
And scarce appears, of sickly beamless white ; 
Oft in this season, silent from the North 
A blaze of meteors shoots : ensweeping first 
The lower skies, they all at once converge 
High to the crown of heaven, and all at once 1110 

Relapsing quick, as quickly re-ascend, 
And mix and thwart, extinguish and renew, 
All ether coursing in a maze of light. 

From look to look, contagious through the crowd, 
The panic runs, and into wondrous shapes 
Th' appearance throws : armies in meet array, 
Throng'd with aerial spears, and steeds of fire ; 
Till, the long lines of full-extended war 
In bleeding fight commix'd, the sanguine flood 
Rolls a broad slaughter o'er the plains of heav'n. 1120 
As thus they scan the visionary scene, 
On all sides swells the superstitious din, 
Incontinent ; and busy Frenzy talks 
Of blood and battle ; cities overturn'd, 
And late at night in swallowing earthquake sunk, 
Or hideous wrapt in fierce ascending flame ; 
Of sallow famine, inundation, storm ; 
Of pestilence, and every great distress ; 
.Empires subversM, when ruling Fate has struck ' 
Th' unalterable hour : even Nature's self 1130 

Is deem'd to totter on the brink of time. -. 
Not so the man of philosophic eye 



126 AUTUMN. 

And inspect sage : the waving brightness he 1133 

Curious surveys, inquisitive to know 
The causes and materials, yet unfix'd, 
Of this appearance beautiful and new. 

Now black and deep the night begins to fall, 
A shade immense. Sunk in the quenching gloom, 
Magnificent and vast, are heaven and earth. 
Order confounded lies, all beauty void, uio 

Distinction lost, and gay variety 
One universal blot : such the fair pow'r 
Of light, to kindle and create the whole. 
Drear is the state of the benighted wretch. 
Who then, bewilder'd, wanders through the dark. 
Full of pale fancies and chimeras huge, 
Nor visited by one directive ray, 
From cottage streaming or from airy hall. 
Perhaps, impatient as he stumbles on, 
Struck from the root of slimy rushes, blue, nso 

The wild-fire scatters round, or gather'd trails 
A length of flame deceitful o'er the moss : 
Whither decoy'd by the fantastic blaze. 
Now lost and now renew'd, he sinks absorb'd. 
Rider and horse, amid the miry gulf ; 
While still, from day to day, his pining wife 
And plaintive children his return await, 
In wild conjecture lost. At other times, 
Sent by the better Genius of the night, 
Innoxious, gleaming on the horse's mane, 1160 

The meteor sits, and shows the narrow path 
That winding leads through pits of death, or else 
Instructs him how to take the dangerous ford. 

The lengthen'd night elaps 'd, the morning shines 
Serene, in all her dewy beauty bright, 
Unfolding fair the last Autumnal day. 



AUTUMN. 127 

And now the mounting Sun dispels the fog ; iier 

The rigid hoar-frost melts before his beam ; 
And, hung on every spray, on every blade 
Of grass, the myriad dew-drops twinkle round. 

Ah, see where, robb'd and murder'd, in that pit 
Lies the still-heaving hive ! at evening snatch'd, 
Beneath the cloud of guilt-concealing night, 
And fix'd o'er sulphur ; while, not dreaming ill, 
The happy people, in their waxen cells. 
Sat tending public cares, and planning schemes 
Of temperance, for Winter poor ; rejoic'd 
To mark, full-flowing round, their copious stores. 
Sudden the dark oppressive steam ascends ; 
And, us'd to milder scents, the tender race, nso 

By thousands, tumble from their honey'd domes. 
Convolved, ,and agonizing in the dust. 
And was it then for this you roam'd the Spring, 
Intent from flower to flower ? for this you toil'd, 
Ceaseless, the burning Summer-heats away ? 
For this in Autumn search'd the blooming waste, 
Nor lost one sunny gleam ? for this sad fate ? 
Man ! tyrannic lord ! how long, how long 
Shall prostrate Nature groan beneath your rage, 
Awaiting renovation *? When oblig'd, ii90 

Must you destroy 1 Of their ambrosial food 
Can you not borrow, and, in just return, 
Afibrd them shelter from the wintry winds ? 
Or, as the sharp year pinches, with their own 
Again regale them on some smiling day 1 
See where the stony bottom of their town 
Looks desolate and wild; with here and there 
A helpless number, who the ruin'd state 
Survive, lamenting weak, cast out to death. 
Thus a proud city, populous and rich. 



128 AUTUMN. 

Full of the works of peace, and liigli in joj, 1201 

At theatre or feast, or sunk in sleep 

(As late, Palermo, was thj fate), is seiz'd 

By some dread earthquake, and convulsive hurl'd 

Sheer from the black foundation, stench-involv'd, 

Into a gulf of blue sulphureous flame. 

Hence every harsher sight ! for now the day. 
O'er heaven and earth diSusM, grows warm and high ; 
Infinite splendour, wide-investing all ! 
How still the breeze ! save what the filmy thread 1210 
Of dew evaporate brushes from the plain. 
How clear the cloudless sky! how deeply ting'd 
With a peculiar blue ! tli' ethereal arch 
How swell'd immense ! amid whose azure thron'd 
The radiant Sun how gay ! how calm below 
The gilded earth I the harvest treasures all 
Now gather'd in, beyond the rage of storms, 
Sure to the swain ; the circling fence shut up, 
And instant Winter's utmost rage defied. 
While, loose to festive joy, the country round 1220 

Laughs with the loud sincerity of mirth, 
Shook to the wind their cares. The toil-strung youth, 
By the quick sense of music taught alone, 
Leaps wildly graceful in the lively dance. 
Her every charm abroad, the village-toast, 
Young, buxom, warm, in native beauty rich, 
Darts not unmeaning looks ; and, where her eye 
Points an approving smile, with double force 
The cudgel rattles, and the wrestler twines. 
Age too shines out, and, garrulous, recounts 1230 

The feats of youth. Thus they rejoice, nor think 
That, with to-morrow's sun, their annual toil 
Begins again the never-ceasing round. 

Oh, knew he but his happiness, of men 



AUTUMN. 129 

The happiest he, who, far from public rage, 1235 

Deep in the vale, with a choice few retir'd, 
Drinks the pure pleasures of the rural life ! 
What though the dome be wanting, whose proud gate, 
Each morning, Tomits out the sneaking crowd 
Of flatterers false, and in their turn abus'd 1 1240 

Vile intercourse ! What though the glittering robe — 
Of every hue reflected light can give, 
Or floating loose, or stifi" with massy gold, 
The pride and gaze of fools — oppress him not 1 
What though, from utmost land and sea puiTey'd, 
For him each rarer tributary life 
Bleeds not, and his insatiate table heaps 
With luxury and death ? What though his bowl 
Flames not with costly juice ; nor, sunk in beds 
Oft of gay care, he tosses out the night, 1250 

Or melts the thoughtless hours in idle state 1 
What though he knows not those fantastic joys 
That still amuse the wanton, still deceive ; 
A face of pleasure, but a heart of pain ; 
Their hollow moments undelighted all 1 
Sure peace is his ; a solid life, estrang'd 
To disappointment and fallacious hope : 
Rich in content, in Nature's bounty rich, 
In herbs and fruits ; whatever greens the Spring 
When heaven descends in showers, or bends the bough 
When Summer reddens and when Autumn beams, i2t)i 
Or in the wintry glebe whatever lies 
Conceal'd, and fattens with the richest sap : 
These are not wanting ; nor the milky drove. 
Luxuriant, spread o'er all the lowing vale ; 
Nor bleating mountains ; nor the chide of streams, 
And hum of bees, inviting sleep sincere 
Into the guiltless breast, beneath the shade, 

I 



130 AUTUMN. 

Or thrown at large amid the fragrant hay ; 1269 

Nor aught besides of prospect, grove, or song. 
Dim grottoes, gleaming lakes, and fountain clear. 
Here too dwells simple Truth ; plain Innocence ; 
Unsullied Beauty ; sound unbroken Youth, 
Patient of labour, with a little pleased ; 
Health, ever-blooming ; unambitious Toil ; 
Calm Contemplation, and poetic Ease. 

Let others brave the flood in quest of gain, 
And beat, for joyless months, the gloomy wave. 
Let such as deem it glory to destroy. 
Rush into blood, the sack of cities seek; 1280 

Ilnpierc'd, exulting in the widow's wail, 
The virgin's shriek, and infant's trembling cry. 
Let some, far distant from their native soil, 
Urg'd or by want or harden'd avarice, 
Find other lands beneath another sun. 
Let this through cities work his eager way 
By legal outrage and establish'd guile. 
The social sense extinct ; and that ferment 
Mad into tumult the seditious herd. 
Or melt them down to slavery. Let these i^Jso 

Ensnare the wretched in the toils of law. 
Fomenting discord, and perplexing right, 
An iron race ! and those, of fairer front. 
But equal inhumanity, in courts. 
Delusive pomp, and dark cabals, delight ; 
Wreathe the deep bow, difinse the lying smile. 
And tread the weary labyrinth of state : 
While he, from all the stormy passions free 
That restless men involve, hears, and but hears. 
At distance safe, the human tempest roar, i300 

Wrapt close in conscious peace. The fall of kings 
The rage of nations, and the crush of states. 
Move not the man who, from the world escap'd, 



AUTUMN. 131 

In still retreats and flow'rj solitudes, 1304 

To Nature's voice attends, from month to month. 

And day to day, through the revolving year ; 

Admiring, sees her in her every shape ; 

Feels all her sweet emotions at his heart ; 

Takes what she liberal gives, nor thinks of more. 

He, when young Spring protrudes the bursting gems, 

Marks the first bud, and sucks the healthful gale isii 

Into his freshened soid ; her genial hours 

He full enjoys ; and not a beauty blows, 

And not an opening blossom breathes, in vain. 1 — 

In Summer he, beneath the living shade, 

Such as o'er frigid Tempe wont to wave. 

Or Hsemus cool, reads w^hat the Muse, of these 

Perhaps, has in immortal numbers sung ; 

Or what she dictates writes ; and oft, an eye 

Shot round, rejoices in the vigorous year. 1320 

When Autumn's yellow lustre gilds the world, 

And tempts the sickled swain into the field, 

Seiz'd by the general joy, his heart distends 

With gentle throes ; and, through the tepid gleams 

Deep musing, then he best exerts his song. 

Even Winter wdld to him is full of bliss. 

The mighty tempest, and the hoary waste, 

Abrupt and deep, stretch'd o'er the buried earth. 

Awake to solemn thought. At night the skies, 

Disclos'd and kindled by refining frost, 1330 

Pour every lustre on th' exalted eye. 

A friend, a book, the stealing hours secure, 

And mark them down for wisdom. With swift wing, 

O'er land and sea imagination roams ; 

Or truth, divinely breaking on his mind, 

Elates his being, and unfolds his powers ; 

Or in his breast heroic virtue burns. 

The touch of kindred, too, and love, he feels ; 



132 AUTUMN. 

The modest eye, whose beams on his alone 1389 

Ecstatic shine ; the little strong embrace 

Of prattling children, twin'd around his neck, 

And, emulous to please him, calling forth 

The fond parental soul. Nor purpose gay, 

Amusement, dance, or song, he sternly scorns ; 

For happiness and true philosophy 

Are of the social, still, and smiling kind. 

This is the life which those who fret in guilt. 

And guilty cities, never knew ; the life 

Led by primeyal ages, uncorrupt, 

When angels dwelt, and God himself, with man ! is so 

Oh, Nature ! all-sufficient ! over all ! 
Enrich me with the knowledge of thy works ! 
Snatch me to heaven ; thy rolling wonders there, 
World beyond world, in infinite extent. 
Profusely scatter'd o'er the blue immense, 
Show me ; their motions, periods, and their laws, 
Give me to scan ; through the disclosing deep 
Light my blind way : the mineral strata there ; 
Thrust, blooming, thence the vegetable world; 
O'er that the rising system, more complex, 1360 

Of animals ; and, higher still, the mind. 
The varied scene of quick-compounded thought, 
And where the mixing passions endless shift : 
These ever open to my ravish'd eye ; 
A search, the flight of time can ne'er exhaust ! 
But if to that unequal, if the blood 
In sluggish streams about my heart forbid 
That best ambition, under closing shades. 
Inglorious, lay me by the lowly brook. 
And whisper to my dreams. From Thee begin, is7o 
Dwell all on Thee, with Thee conclude my song ; 
And let me never, never stray from Thee ! 



WINTER. 



THE ARGUMENT. 

The subject proposed. Address to the Earl of Wilmington. First approach 
of Winter. According to the natural course of the season, various 
storms described. Rain. Wind. Snow. The driving of the snows : 
a man perishing among them ; whence reflections on the wants and 
niiseries of human life. The wolves descending from the Alps and 
Apennines. A winter evening described ; — as spent by philosophers ; by 
the country people ; in the city. Frost. A view of Winter within the 
polar circle. A thaw. The whole concluding with moral reflections on 
a future state. 

See, Winter comes, to rule the varied year, 

Sullen and sad, with all his rising train — 

Vapours, and clouds, and storms. Be these mj theme ; 

These, that exalt the soul to solemn thought 

And heavenlj musing. Welcome, kindred glooms ! 

Congenial horrors, hail ! With frequent foot, ~o^. 

Pleas 'd haye I, in my cheerful morn of life, , 

When nurs'd by careless Solitude I liv'd. 

And sung of Nature with unceasing joy, — 

Pleased have I wander'd through your rough domain ; 

Trod the pure virgin-snows, myself as pure ; n 

Heard the winds roar, and the big torrent burst ; 

Or seen the deep-fermenting tempest brew'd 

In the grim evening sky. Thus pass'd the time. 

Till through the lucid chambers of the South 

Look'd out the joyous Spring, — look'd out, and smii'd. 



"^^ 



134 WINTEE. 

To tliee, tlie patron of iMs Jirsi essay, 17 

The Muse, Wilmington ! renews her song. 
Since has she rounded the revolving year : 
Skimm'd the gaj Spring ; on eagle-pinions borne. 
Attempted through the Summer-blaze to rise ; 
Then swept o'er Autumn with the shadowy gale ; 
And now among the Wintry clouds again, 
Koll'd in the doubling storm, she tries to soar ; 
To swell her note with all the rushing winds ; 
To suit her sounding cadence to the floods ; 
As is her theme, her numbers wildly great : 
Thrice happy, could she fill thy judging ear 

^.^ With bold description and with manly thought ! 
"^ <Nor art thou skill'd in awful schemes alone, 30 

And how to make a mighty people thrive : 
But equal goodness, sound integrity, 
A firm, unshaken, uncorrupted soul, 
Amid a sliding age, and burning strong, 
Not vainly blazing, for thy country's weal, 
A steady spirit, regularly free ; — 
These, each exalting each, the statesman light 
Into the patriot ; these, the public hope 
And eye to thee converting, bid the Muse 
«—.♦ Record what Envy dares not flattery call. 40 

p Now when the cheerless empire of the sky- 
To Capricorn the Centaur- Archer yields. 
And fierce Aquarius stains th' inverted year ; 
Hung o'er the farthest verge of heaven, the Sun 
Scarce spreads through ether the dejected day. 
Faint are his gleams, and inefi'ectual shoot 
His struggling rays, in horizontal lines, 

^ Through the thick air ; as, cloth 'd in cloudy storm, 

Weak, wan, and broad, he skirts the southern sky ; 
s^. And, soon descending, to the long dark night, 



WINTER. 135 

Wide-sliading all, the prostrate world resigns. si 

Nor is the night unwish'd, while yital heat, 
Light, life, and joj, the dubious daj forsake. 
Meantime, in sable cincture, shadows vast. 
Deep-ting 'd and damp, and congregated clouds. 
And all the vapoury turbulence of heaven. 
Involve the face of things. Thus Winter falls 
A heavy gloom oppressive o'er the world, 
Thi'ough Natui'e shedding influence mahgn. 
And rouses up the seeds of dark disease. eo 

The soul of man dies in him, loathing life. 
And black with more than melancholy views. 
/ The cattle droop ; and o'er the furrow'd land. 
Fresh from the plough, the dun discolour'd flocks, 
Untended spreading, crop the wholesome root. 
Along the woods, along the moorish fens. 
Sighs the sad Genius of the coming storm ; 
And up among the loose disjointed clifis. 
And fractured mountains wild, the brawling brook 
And cave, presageful, send a hollow moan, 70 

E-esounding long in listening Fancy's ear. 

Then comes the Father of the tempest forth. 
Wrapt in black glooms. First joyless rains obscure 1 
Drive through the mingling skies with vapour foul ; 
Dash on the mountain's brow, and shake the woods 
That grumbling wave below. Th' unsightly plain "^. 

Lies a brown deluge ; as the low-bent clouds 
Pour flood on flood, yet unexhausted still 
Combine, and, deepening into night, shut up 
The day's fair face. The wanderers of heaven, so 

Each to his home, retire ; save those that love 



7 



To take their pastime in the troubled air, 

lOr skimming flutter round the dimply pool. 

The cattle from th' untasted fields return, 



/ 



i^^^y^^^^ 



136 WINTER. 

And ask, "with meaning low, their wonted stalls, 85 

Or ruminate in the contiguous shade. 
Thither the household feathery people crowd, — 
The crested cock, with all his female train. 
Pensive and dripping ; while the cottage-hind 
Hangs o'er th' enlivening blaze, and taleful there 90 
Recounts his simple frolic : much he talks. 
And much he laughs, nor recks the storm that blows 
Without, and rattles on his humble roof. 
' Wide o'er the brim, with many a torrent swell'd, 
And the mix'd ruin of its banks o'erspread, 
At last the rous'd-up river pours along : 
Resistless, roaring, dreadful, down it comes. 
From the rude mountain and the mossy wild. 
Tumbling through rocks abrupt, and sounding far ; 
Then o'er the sanded valley floating spreads, loo 

Calm, sluggish, silent ; till again, constrain'd 
Between two meeting hills, it bursts away, 
Where rocks and woods o'erhang the turbid stream ; 
There gathering triple force, rapid and deep, 

f It boils, and wheels, and foams, and thunders through. 

^ I Nature ! great parent ! whose unceasing hand 
' Rolls round the Seasons of the changeful year ! 
How mighty, how majestic, are thy works ! 
With what a pleasing dread they swell the soul, 
^/ That sees astonish'd, — and astonish'd sings ! no 

Ye too, ye winds, that now begin to blow 
With boisterous sweep ! I raise my voice to you. 
Where are your stores, ye powerful beings ! say, 
Where your aerial magazines reserved. 
To swell the brooding terrors of the storm ? 
In what far-distant region of the sky, 
Hush'd in deep silence, sleep ye when 'tis calm ? 
When from the pallid sky the Sun descends, 



WINTEE. 137 

With many a spot, that o'er his glaring orb 119 

Uncertain -vvanders, stain'd ; red fiery streaks 

Begin to flush around. The reeling clouds 

Stagger with dizzy poise, as doubting yet 

Which master to obey ; while, rising slow, 

Blank, in the leaden-colour'd East, the Moon 

Wears a wan circle round her blunted horns. 

Seen through the turbid, fluctuating air. 

The stars obtuse emit a shivering ray ; 

Or frequent seem to shoot athwart the gloom, 

And long behind them trail the whitening blaze. 

Snatch'd in short eddies, plays the wither'd leaf; i3u 

And on the flood the dancing feather floats. 

With broaden'd nostrils to the sky upturn'd. 

The conscious heifer snufiE the stormy gale. 

Ev'n as the matron, at her nightly task, 

With pensive labour draws the flaxen thread. 

The wasted taper and the crackling flame 

Foretell the blast. But chief the plumy race. 

The tenants of the sky, its changes speak. 

Retiring from the downs, where all day long 

They pick'd their scanty fare, a blackening train 140 

Of clamorous rooks thick urge their weary flight, 

And seek the closing shelter of the grove. 

Assiduous, in his bower, the wailing owl 

Plies his sad song. The cormorant on high 

Wheels from the deep, and screams along the land. 

Loud shrieks the soaring hern ; and with wild wing 

The circling sea-fowl cleave the flaky clouds. 

Ocean, unequal press'd, with broken tide 

And blind commotion heaves ; while from the shore, 

Eat into caverns by the restless wave iso 

And forest-rustling mountain, comes a voice, 

That, solemn sounding, bids the world prepare. 



138 WINTER. 

Then issues forth the storm with sudden burst, i53 

And hui'ls the whole precipitated air 

Down in a torrent. On the passive main 

Descends th* ethereal force, and with strong gust 

Turns from its bottom the discolour'd deep. 

Through the black night that sits immense around, 

Lash'd into foam, the fierce-conflicting brine 

Seems o'er a thousand raging waves to burn. i60 

Meantime the mountain-billows, to the clouds 

In dreadful tumult swell'd, sm'ge above surge, 

Burst into chaos with tremendous roar. 

And anchor'd navies from their stations drive, 

Wild as the winds, across the howling waste 

Of mighty waters : now th' inflated wave 

Straining thej scale, and now impetuous shoot 

Into the secret chambers of the deep, 

The wintry Baltic thund' ring o'er their head. 

Emerging thence again, before the breath i7o 

Of full-exerted heaven they wing their course. 

And dart on distant coasts ; if some sharp rock 

Or shoal insidious break not their career. 

And in loose fragments fling them floating round. 

Nor less at land the loosen'd tempest reigns. 
The mountain thunders, and its sturdy sons 
Stoop to the bottom of the rocks they shade. 
Lone on the midnight steep, and all aghast, 
The dark wayfaring stranger breathless toils. 
And, often falling, climbs against the blast. 180 

Low waves the rooted forest, vex'd, and sheds 
What of its tarnish'd honours yet remain ; 
Dash'd down and scatter'd, by the tearing wind's 
Assiduous fury, its gigantic limbs. 
Thus struggling through the dissipated grove. 
The whirling tempest raves along the plain ; 



WINTER. 139 

And, on the cottage tliatcli'd or lordly roof isr 

Keen fastening, shakes them to the solid base. 
Sleep frighted flies ; and round the rocking dome, 
For entrance eager, howls the savage blast. 
Then too, they say, through all the burden'd air, 
Long groans are heard, shrill sounds, and distant sighs, 
That, utter'd by the Demon of the night. 
Warn the devoted wretch of woe and death. 

Huge Uproar lords it wide. The clouds, commix'd 
With stars swift-gliding, sweep along the sky. 
All Nature reels : till Nature's King, who oft 
Amid tempestuous darkness dwells alone. 
And on the wings of the careering wind 
Walks dreadfully serene, commands a calm ; 200 

Then, straight, air, sea, and earth are hush'd at once. 

As yet 'tis midnight deep. The weary clouds. 
Slow-meeting, mingle into solid gloom. 
Now, while the drowsy world lies lost in sleep, 
Let me associate with the serious Night, 
And Contemplation, her sedate compeer : 
Let me shake off th' intrusive cares of day, « 
And lay the meddling senses all aside. • — 

Where now, ye lying vanities of life ! 
Ye ever-tempting, ever-cheating train ! 210 

Where are ye now 1 and what is your amount ? 
Vexation, disappointment, and remorse. J~lJ JL 

Sad, sickening thought ! and yet deluded man, u ' *^ 

A scene of crude, disjointed visions past, (y^ a^-'^iiZ^-^ 

And broken slumbers, rises still resolved. 
With new-flush'd hopes, to run the giddy round. 

Father of light and life ! thou Good Supreme ! 
Oh, teach me what is good ! teach me Thyself ! 
Save me from folly, vanity, and vice. 
From every low pursuit ; and feed my soul 



140 WINTER. 

With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure, — 221 
Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss ! 

The keener tempests come : and fuming dun 
From all the livid East or piercing North, 
Thick clouds ascend ; in whose capacious womb 
A vapoury deluge lies, to snow congeal'd. 
Heavy they roll their fleecy world along, 
And the sky saddens with the gather'd storm. 
Through the hush'd air the whitening shower descends, 
At first thin-wavering ; till at last the flakes 230 

Fall broad and wide and fast, dimming the day 
With a continual flow. The cherished fields 
Put on their winter-robe of purest white. 
'Tis brightness all ; save where the new snow melts 
Along the mazy current. Low the woods 
Bow their hoar heads ; and, ere the languid Sun 
Faint from the West emits his evening ray. 
Earth's universal face, deep-hid and cliill. 
Is one wild dazzling waste, that buries wide 
The works of man. Drooping, the labourer-ox 240 

Stands cover'd o*er with snow, and then demands 
The fruit of all his toil. The fowls of heaven, 
TamM by the cruel season, crowd around 
The winnowing store, and claim the little boon 
Which Providence assigns them. One alone. 
The redbreast, sacred to the household gods. 
Wisely regardful of th' embroiling sky. 
In joyless fields and thorny thickets leaves 
His shivering mates, and pays to trusted man 
His annual visit. Half afraid, he first 250 

Against the window beats ; then, brisk, alights 
On the warm hearth ; then, hopping o'er the floor, 
Eyes all the smiling family askance. 
And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is : 



WINTER. 141 

Till, more familiar grown, the table-crumbs 255 

Attract his slender feet. The foodless wilds / 

Pom' forth their brown inhabitants. The hare, ' 

Though timorous of heart, and hard beset 
By death in various forms — dark snares, and dogs, 
And more unpitying men — the garden seeks, 260 

Urg'd on by fearless want. The bleating kind 
Eye the bleak heayen, and next the glistening earth, 
With looks of dumb despair ; then, sad-dispers 'd, 
Dig for the wither'd herb through heaps of snow. 

Now, shepherds, to your helpless charge be kind ; 
Baffle the raging year, and fill their pens 
With food at will ; lodge them below the storm, 
And watch them strict : for from the bellowing East, 
In this dire season, oft the whirlwind's wing 
Sweeps up the burden of whole wintry plains 270 

At one wide waft, and o'er the hapless flocks, 
Hid in the hollow of two neighbouring hills. 
The billowy tempest whelms ; till, upward m-g'd. 
The valley to a shining mountain swells, 
Tipp'd with a wreath high-curling in the sky. 

As thus the snows arise, and foul and fierce 
All Winter drives along the darken'd air, 
In his own loose-revolving fields the swain 
Disaster'd stands ; sees other hills ascend, 
Of unknown, joyless brow ; and other scenes, 280 

Of horrid prospect, shag the trackless plain ; 
Nor finds the river, nor the forest, hid 
Beneath the formless wild ; but wanders on 
From hill to dale, stiU more and more astray, 
Impatient flouncing through the drifted heaps. 
Stung with the thoughts of home : the thoughts of home 
Rush on his nerves, and caU their vigour forth 
In many a vain attempt. How sinks his soul ! 



142 WINTER. 

What black despair, what horror fills his heart, 289 

When, for the dusky spot which Fancy feign'd 

His tufted cottage rising through the snow, 

He meets the roughness of the middle waste, 

Far from the track and blest abode of man ; 

While round him night resistless closes fast, 

And every tempest, howling o'er his head, 

Renders the savage wilderness more wild ! 

Then throng the busy shapes into his mind 

Of cover'd pits, unfathomably deep, 

A dire descent ! beyond the power of frost ; 

Of faithless bogs ; of precipices huge, 300 

Smooth'd up with snow ; and what is land, unknown, 

What water, of the still unfrozen spring, 

In the loose marsh or solitary lake. 

Where the fresh fountain from the bottom boils. 

These check his fearful steps ; and down he sinks 

Beneath the shelter of the shapeless drift, 

Thinking o'er all the bitterness of death, 

Mix'd with the tender anguish Nature shoots 

Through the wrung bosom of the dying man, — 

His wife, his children, and his friends unseen. sio 

In vain for him th' officious wife prepares 

The fire fair-blazing and the vestment warm ; 

In vain his little children, peeping out 

Into the mingling storm, demand their sire. 

With tears of artless innocence. Alas ! 

Nor wife, nor children, more shaU he behold. 

Nor friends, nor sacred home. On every nerve 

The deadly Winter seizes ; shuts up sense ; 

And, o'er his inmost vitals creeping cold. 

Lays him along the snows, a stiffen'd corse, 320 

Stretch'd out, and bleaching in the northern blast. 

I] Ah! little think the gay licentious proud, 



WINTER. 143 

Whom pleasure, pow^r, and affluence surround ; 323 
They who their thoughtless hours in giddj mirth 
And wanton, often cruel, riot waste ; — 
Ah ! little think thej, while they dance along, 
How many feel, this very moment, death 
And all the sad yariety of pain : 
How many sink in the devouring flood, 
Or more devouring flame : how many bleed, 330 

By shameful variance betwixt man and man : 
How many pine in want and dungeon-glooms, 
Shut from the common air, and common use 
Of their own limbs : how many drink the cup 
Of baleful grief, or eat the bitter bread 
Of misery: sore pierc'd by wintry winds, 
How many shrink into the sordid hut 
Of cheerless poverty : how many shake 
With all the fiercer tortures of the mind,'- — 
Unbounded passion, madness, guilt, remorse ; 340 

Whence tumbled headlong from the height of life. 
They furnish ^matter for the tragic Muse : 
Ev'n in the vale where Wisdom loves to dwell. 
With Friendship, Peace, and Contemplation join'd, 
How many, rack'd with honest passions, droop 
In deep-retir'd distress : how many stand 
Around the death-bed of their dearest friends. 
And point the parting anguish. Thought fond man 
/ Of these, and all the thousand nameless ills, 
That one incessant struggle render life, 350 

One scene of toil, of su0"'ring, and of fate ; 
Vice in his high career would stand appall'd, 
And heedless rambling Impulse learn to think ; 
The conscious heart of Charity would warm. 
And her wide wish Benevolence dilate ; 
The social tear would rise, the social sigh ; 



e 



144 WINTER. 

And into clear perfection, gradual bliss, 357 

Refining still, the social passions work. 

And here can I forget the generous band ^ 
Who, touch'd with human woe, redressive searched 
Into the horrors of the gloomj jail, 
Unpitied and unheard where Misery moans, 
Where Sickness pines, where Thirst and Hunger burn, 
And poor Misfortune feels the lash of Vice 1 
While in the land of liberty — the land 
Whose every street and public meeting glow 
With open freedom — little tyrants rag'd ; 
Snatch'd the lean morsel from the starving mouth ; 
Tore from cold wintry limbs the tatter'd weed ; 
Even robb'd them of the last of comforts, sleep ; 370 
The free-born Briton to the dungeon chain'd. 
Or, as the lust of cruelty prevail'd. 
At pleasure mark'd him with inglorious stripes ; 
And crush'd out lives, by secret barbarous ways. 
That for their country would have toil'd or bled. 
great design ! if executed well. 
With patent care and Avisdom-temper'd zeal. 
Ye sons of mercy ! yet resume the search ; 
Drag forth the legal monsters into light. 
Wrench from their hands Oppression's iron rod, sso 

And bid the cruel feel the pains they give. 
Much still untouch'd remains ; in this rank age, 
Much is the patriot's weeding hand requir'd. 

•' The toils of law, — what dark insidious men 
Have cumbrous added, to perplex the truth. 
And lengthen simple justice into trade, — 
How glorious were the day that saw these broke, 

- And every man within the reach of ri^t ! 
By wintry famine rous'd, from all the tract 

» ' Generous band: ' the Jail Committee, in the year 1729. 



WINTER. 145 

Of horrid mountains wliicli the shining Alps, 390 

And wayj Apennines, and Pyrenees, 

Branch out stupendous into distant lands, — 

Cruel as death, and hungry as the grave ! S 

Burning for blood ! bony, and gaunt, and grira ! — - 

Assembling wolves in ranging troops descend. 

And, pouring o'er the country, bear along. 

Keen as the north-wind sweeps the glossy snow. 

All is their prize. They fasten on the steed, 

Press him to earth, and pierce his mighty heart. 

Nor can the bull his awful front defend, 400 

Or shake the murdering savages away. 

Rapacious, at the mother's throat they fly, 

And tear the screaming infant from her breast. 

The godlike face of man avails him naught. . , . 

Even Beauty, force divine! at whose bright glance $Ui*o^ ^ ^ '*^ 

The generous lion stands in soften'd gaze. 

Here bleeds, a hapless, undistinguish'd prey. 

But if, appriz'd of the severe attack, 

The country be shut up, lur'd by the scent, 

On churchyards drear (inhuman to relate !) 4 10 

The disappointed prowlers fall, and dig 

The shrouded body from the grave ; o'er which, 

Mix'd with foul shades and frighted ghosts, they howl. 

Among those hilly regions where, embrac'd 
In peaceful vales, the happy Grisons dwell ; 
Oft, rushing sudden from the loaded clifi^s, 
Mountains of snow their gathering terrors roll. 
From steep to steep, loud-thundering, down they come, 
A wintry waste in dire commotion all ; 
And herds, and flocks, and travellers, and swains, 420 
And sometimes whole brigades of marching troops, 
Or hamlets sleeping in the dead of night, 
Are deep beneath the smothering ruin whelai'd. 

K 



146 WINTEE. 

Now, all amid the rigours of the year, 424 

In the wild depth of Winter, while without 
The ceaseless winds blow ice, be my retreat 
Between the groaning forest and the shore, 
Beat by the boundless multitude of waves ; 
A rural, shelter'd, solitary scene ; 

Where ruddy fire and beaming tapers join 430 

' To cheer the gloom. There studious let me sit, 
And hold high converse with the mighty dead ; 
^ Sages of ancient time, as gods reverM, 
, yy As gods beneficent, who bless'd mankind 
A^ -"^ 'With arts, with arms, and humanized a world. 
Rous'd at th' inspiring thought, I throw aside 
The long-liv' d volume ; and, deep-musing, hail 
The sacred shades, that, slowly rising, pass 
Before my wondering eyes. First Socrates, 
Who, firmly good in a corrupted state, uo 

Against the rage of tyrants single stood, 
Invincible ! calm Reason's holy law. 
That voice of God within th' attentive mind, 
Obeying, fearless or in life or death : 
Great moral teacher ! wisest of mankind ! 
Solon the next, who built his commonweal 
On equity's wide base ; by tender laws 
A lively people curbing, yet undamp'd 
Preserving still that quick peculiar fire. 
Whence in the laurell'd field of finer arts, 450 

And of bold freedom, they unequall'd shone. 
The pride of smiling Greece and human-kind. 
Lycurgus then, who bow'd beneath the force 
Of strictest discipline, severely wise, 
All human passions. Following him I see, 
As at Thermopylae he glorious fell, 



WINTER. 147 

The firm devoted cliief,^ who provM bj deeds i5i 

The hardest lesson which the other taught. 

Then Aristides lifts his honest front ; 

Spotless of heart, to whom th' unflattering voice 

Of Freedom gave the noblest name of Just ; 

In pure majestic poverty rever'd ; 

Who, even his glory to his country's weal 

Submitting, swell'd a haughty rival's ^ fame. 

Rear'd by his care, of softer ray appears 

Cimon sweet-soul'd ; whose genius, rising strong, 

Shook off the load of young debauch ; abroad 

The scourge of Persian pride, at home the friend 

Of every worth and every splendid art ; 

Modest and simple in the pomp of wealth. *70 

Then the last worthies of declining Greece, 

Late call'd to glory, in unequal times, 

Pensive appear. The fair Corinthian boast, 

Timoleon, temper'd happy, mild and firm, 

Who wept the brother, while the tyrant bled : 

And, equal to the best, the Theban Pair,^ 

Whose virtues, in heroic concord join'd, 

Their country rais'd to freedom, empire, fame. 

He, too, with whom Athenian honour sunk, 

And left a mass of sordid lees behind, 480 

Phocion the Good ; in public life severe, 

To virtue still inexorably firm ; 

But when, beneath his low illustrious roof. 

Sweet peace and happy wisdom smooth'd his brow. 

Not friendship softer was, nor love more kind. 

And he, the last of old Lycurgus' sons. 

The generous victim to that vain attempt 

To save a rotten state — Agis, who saw 

' 'Devoted chief:' Leonidas. — * ' Haughty rival •' Themistocles. — * 'The- 
ban Pair : ' Pelopidas and Epaminondas. 



148 WINTER. 

Even Sparta's self to servile avarice sunk. 489 

The two Achaian heroes close the train : — 
Aratus, who a while relum'd the soul 
Of fondlj lingering Liberty in Greece : 
And he, her darling, as her latest hope, 
The gallant Philopcemen, who to arms 
Turn'd the luxurious pomp he could not cure ; 
Or toiling in his farm, a simple swain ; 
Or, bold and skilful, thund'ring iu the field. 
Of rougher front, a mighty people come, 
A race of heroes, in those virtuous times 
Which knew no stain, save that with partial flame soo 
Their dearest country they too fondly lov'd. 
Her better founder first, the Light of Rome, 
Numa, who soften'd her rapacious sons : 
Servius the hing who laid the solid base 
On which o'er earth the vast repuhlic spread. 
Then the great consuls venerable rise : — 
The Public Father ^ who the private quell'd, 
As on the dread tribunal, sternly sad : 
He, whom his thankless country could not lose, 
Camillus, only vengeful to her foes : sio 

Fabricius, scorner of all-conqu'ring gold ; 
And Cincinnatus, awful from the plough : 
Thy willing victim,^ Carthage, bursting loose 
From all that pleading Nature could oppose, 
From a whole city's tears, by rigid Faith 
Imperious call'd, and Honour's dire command : 
Scipio, the gentle chief, humanely brave, 
Who soon the race of spotless glory ran, 
And, warm in youth, to the poetic shade 
With Friendship and Philosophy retir'd : 520 

TuUy, whose powerful eloquence a while 

' ' Public Father : ' Marcus Junius Brutus. — * ' Victim : ' Eegiilus. 



WINTEE. 149 

Restrain'd the rapid fate of rushing Rome : 522 

Unconquer'd Cato, virtuous in extreme : 
And thou, unhappy Brutus, kind of heart, 
Whose steady arm, by awful Virtue urg'd, 
Lifted the Roman steel against thy friend. 
Thousands besides the tribute of a Terse 
Demand ; but who can count the stars of heaven ? 
Who sing their influence on this lower world"? . — 

Behold, who yonder comes ! in sober state, 530 

Fair, mild, and strong, as is a vernal sun : 
'Tis Phcebus' self, or else the Mantuan swain ! 
Great Homer too appears, of daring wing. 
Parent of song ! and equal by his side. 
The British Muse ; join'd hand in hand they walk, 
Darkling, full up the middle steep to fame. 
Nor absent are those shades, whose skilful touch 
Pathetic drew th' impassion'd heart, and charm'd 
Transported Athens with the moral scene ; 
Nor those who, tuneful, wak'd th' enchanting lyre. 540 

First of your kind ! society divine ! 
Still visit thus my nights, for you reserved. 
And mount my soaring soul to thoughts like yom'S. 
Silence, thou lonely pow'r ! the door be thine ; 
See on the hallow'd hour that none intrude. 
Save a few chosen friends, who sometimes deign 
To bless my humble roof, with sense refin'd, 
Learning digested well, exalted faith, 
Unstudied wit, and humour ever gay. 
Or from the Muses' hill will Pope descend, 650 

To raise the sacred hour, to bid it smile, 
And with the social spirit warm the heart ; 
For though not sweeter his own Homer sings, 
Yet is his life the more endearing song. 

Where art thou, Hammond 1 thou the darling pride, 



150 WIJfTEE. 

The friend and lover, of the tuneful throng ! 555 

x\h ! whj, dear youth, in all the blooming prime 
Of vernal genius, where disclosing fast 
Each active worth, each manly virtue lay, 
Why wert thou ravish'd from our hope so soon ? 
What now avails that noble thh-st of fame 
Which stung thy fervent breast, that treasured store 
Of knowledge early gain'd? that eager zeal 
To serve thy country, glowing in the band 
Of youthful patriots who sustain her name ? 
"What now, alas ! that life-diffusing charm 
Of sprightly wit, that rapture for the Muse, 
That heart of friendship, and that soul of joy. 
Which bade with softest Hght thy virtue smile 1 
Ah ! only show'd, to check our fond pursuits, ^70 

And teach our humbled hopes that life is vain ! 
Thus in some deep retirement would I pass 
The winter-glooms, with friends of pliant soul, 
Or bhthe, or solemn, as the theme inspii''d ; 
With them would search, if Nature's boundless frame 
Was caU'd, late rising from the void of night, 
Or sprang eternal from th' Eteexal Mixd ; 
Its life, its laws, its progress, and its end. 
Hence larger prospects of the beauteous whole 
Would, gradual, open on our opening minds, ^so 

And each diffusive harmony imite 
In fuU perfection to the astonish'd eye. 
Then would we try to scan the moral world, 
Which, though to us it seems embroU'd, moves on 
In higher order, fitted and impell'd 
By Wisdom's finest hand, and issuing all 
In general good. The sage Historic Muse 
Should next conduct us through the deeps of time ; 
Show us how empire grew, declin ' d, and fell, 



WINTER. 151 

In scatter'd states ; w^hat makes the nations smile, 590 

ImproTes their soil, and gives them double suns ; 

And why they pine beneath the brightest skies, 

In Nature's richest lap. As thus we talk'd, 

Our hearts would burn within us, would inhale 

That portion of divinitj, that raj 

Of purest heaven, which lights the public soul 

Of patriots and of heroes. But if doom'd, 

In powerless humble fortune, to repress 

These ardent risings of the kindling soul, 

Then, even superior to ambition, we 600 

Would learn the private virtues ; how to glide 

Through shades and plains, along the smoothest stream 

Of rural life : or, snatch'd away by Hope 

Through the dim spaces of futurity, 

With earnest eye anticipate those scenes 

Of happiness and wonder, where the mind, 

In endless growth and infinite ascent, 

Rises from state to state, and world to world. 

But when with these the serious thought is foil'd. 

We, shifting for reHef, would play the shapes 610 

Of frohc fancy ; and incessant form 

Those rapid pictures, that assembled train 

Of fleet ideas, never join'd before, 

Whence lively Wit excites to gay surprise ; 

Or folly-painting Humour, grave himself, 

Calls Laughter forth, deep-shaking every nerve. 

Meantime the village rouses up the fire, 
While, well attested, and as well believ'd, 'w^■^t-^v^^ 
Heard solemn, goes the goblin-story round ; 
Till superstitious horror creeps o'er all. 620 

Or, frequent in the sounding hall, they wake 
The rural gambol. Rustic mirth goes round ; 
The simple joke that takes the shepherd's heart, 



152 WINTER. 

Easily pleased; the long, loud laugli, sincere; 624 

The kiss, snatch'd hasty from the sidelong maid, 

On pm'pose guardless, or pretending sleep ; 

The leap, the slap, the haul ; and, shook to notes 

Of native music, the respondent dance. 

Thus jocund fleets with them the winter night. 

The city swarms intense. The public haunt, ^30 

Full of each theme, and warm with mix'd discourse, 
' Hums indistinct. The sons of riot flow 
Down the loose stream of false enchanted joy 
.To swift destruction. On the rankled soul 
The gaming fury falls ; and in one gulf 
Of total ruin, honour, virtue, peace, 
Friends, families, and fortune, headlong sink. 
Up springs the dance along the lighted dome, 
Mix'd and evolv'd a thousand sprightly ways. 
The glitt'ring court eff'uses every pomp ; 640 

The circle deepens ; beam'd from gaudy robes, 
Tapers, and sparkling gems, and radiant eyes, 
A soft efiiilgence o'er the palace waves : 
While, a gay insect in his Summer shine. 
The fop, light fluttering, spreads his mealy wings. 

Dread o'er the scene the ghost of Hamlet stalks, 
Othello rages, poor Monimia mourns. 
And Belvidera pours her soul in love. 
Terror alarms the breast ; the comely tear 
Steals o'er the cheek. Or else the Comic Muse 65o 
Holds to the world a picture of itself. 
And raises sly the fair, impartial laugh. 
Sometimes she lifts her strain, and paints the scenes 
Of beauteous life ; whate'er can deck mankind. 
Or charm the heart, in generous BeviU show'd. 

thou whose wisdom, solid, yet refin'd, 

• ' Bevil : ' see Steele's ' Conscious Lovers.' ) 



WINTER. 153 

Whose patriot yirtiies, and consummate skill 667 

To touch the finer springs that move the world, 

Join'd to whate'er the Graces can bestow. 

And all Apollo's animating fire. 

Give thee with pleasing dignity to shine 

At once the guardian, ornament, and joy 

Of polish'd life ; permit the Rural Muse, 

Chesterfield, to grace with thee her song ! 

Ere to the shades again she humbly flies. 

Indulge her fond ambition, in thy train 

(For every Muse has in thy train a place) 

To mark thy various fuU-accomplish'd mind : 

To mark that spirit which, with British scorn, 

Rejects th' allurements of corrupted power ; 67o 

That elegant politeness, which excels, 

Ev'n in the judgment of presumptuous France, 

The boasted manners of her shining court ; 

That wit, the vivid energy of sense. 

The truth of nature, which, with Attic point, 

And kind, well-temper'd satire, smoothly keen. 

Steals through the soul, and without pain corrects. 

Or, rising thence with yet a brighter flame, 

let me hail thee on some glorious day. 

When to the listening senate, ardent, crowd 680 

Britannia's sons to hear her pleaded cause ! 

Then dress'd by thee, more amiably fair. 

Truth the soft robe of mild Persuasion wears ; 

Thou to assenting Reason giv'st again 

Her. own enlighten'd thoughts ; call'd from the heart, 

Th' obedient Passions on thy voice attend ; 

And ev'n reluctant Party feels a while 

Thy gracious pow'r; as through the varied maze 

Of eloquence, now smooth, now quick, now strong, 

Profound and clear, you roll the copious flood. , — 



154 WINTEE. 

To til J lov'd haunt return, mj happj Muse : t'si 

For now, behold, the joyous winter days, 
Frosty, succeed ; and through the blue serene, 
For sight too fine, th' ethereal nitre flies, 
Kilhng infectious damps, and the spent air 
Storing afresh with elemental life. 
Close crowds the shining atmosphere, and binds 
Our strengthen'd bodies in its cold embrace 
Constringent ; feeds and animates our blood ; 
Refines our spirits, through the new-strung nerves, yoo 
In swifter sallies darting to the brain. 
Where sits the soul, intense, collected, cool, 
Bright as the skies, and as the season keen. 
All Nature feels the renovating force 
Of Winter, only to the thoughtless eye 
In ruin seen. The frost-concoated glebe 
Draws in abundant vegetable soul. 
And gathers vigour for the coming year. 
A stronger glow sits on the lively cheek 
Of ruddy fire : and luculent along 710 

The purer rivers flow ; their sullen deeps. 
Transparent, open to the shepherd's gaze, 
And murmur hoarser at the fixing frost. 

What art thou, Frost 1 and whence are thy keen stores 
DerivM, thou secret, all-invading pow'r, 
Whom even th' illusive fluid cannot fly 1 
Is not thy potent energy, unseen, 
Myriads of little salts, or hook'd, or shaped 
Like double wedges, and difiiisM immense 
Through water, earth, and ether 'i Hence at eve, 720 
Steam'd eager from the red horizon round. 
With the fierce rage of Winter deep-sufi'us'd, 
An icy gale, oft shifting, o'er the pool 
Breathes a blue film, and in its mid career 



WINTEK. 155 

Arrests the bickering stream. The loosen'd ice, 725 

Let down the flood and half dissolvM bj day, 

Rustles no more ; but to the sedgj bank 

Fast grows, or gathers round the pointed stone, 

A crystal pavement, by the breath of heav'n 

Cemented firm ; till, seiz'd from shore to shore, 730 

The whole imprison'd river growls below. 

Loud rings the froz'n earth, and hard reflects 

A double noise ; while, at his evening watch, 

The village-dog deters the nightly thief; 

The heifer lows ; the distant waterfall 

Swells in the breeze ; and with the hasty tread 

Of traveller the hollow-sounding plain 

Shakes from afar. The full ethereal round, 

Infinite worlds disclosing to the view, 

Shines out intensely keen ; and, aU one cope 740 

Of starry glitter, glows from pole to pole. 

From pole to pole the rigid influence falls, 

Through the still night, incessant, heavy, strong, 

And seizes Nature fast. It freezes on. 

Till Morn, late-rising o'er the drooping world. 

Lifts her pale eye unjoyous. Then appears 

The various labour of the silent night : 

Prone from the dripping eave, and dumb cascade, 

Whose idle torrents only seem to roar. 

The pendent icicle ; the frost-work fair, 7-50 

Where transient hues and fancied figures rise ; 

Wide-spouted o'er the hill, the frozen brook, 

A livid tract, cold-gleaming on the morn ; 

The forest bent beneath the plumy wave ; 

And by the frost refin'd the whiter snow, 

Incrusted hard, and sounding to the tread 

Of early shepherd, as he pensive seeks 



156 WINTER. 

His pining flock, or from the mountain top, 758 

Pleased with the slippery surface, swift descends. 

On blithesome frolics bent, the youthful swains, 
While every work of man is laid at rest, 
Fond o'er the river crowd, in various sport 
And revelry dissolved ; where mixing glad, 
Happiest of all the train, the rapturM boy 
Lashes the whirling top. Or, where the Rhine 
Branch'd out in many a long canal extends, 
From every province swarming, void of care, 
Batavia rushes forth ; and as they sweep, 
On sounding skates, a thousand different ways, 
In circling poise, swift as the winds, along, 77o 

The then gay land is madden'd all to joy. 
Nor less the northern courts, wide o'er the snow 
Pour a new pomp. Eager, on rapid sleds. 
Their vigorous youth in bold contention wheel 
The long-resounding course. Meantime, to raise 
The manly strife, with highly blooming charms, 
Flush'd by the season, Scandinavia's dames. 
Or Russia's buxom daughters, glow around. 

Pure, quick, and sportful, is the wholesome day ; 
But soon elaps'd. The horizontal Sun 780 

Broad o'er the south hangs at his utmost noon : 
And ineffectual strikes the gelid cliff" : 
His azure gloss the mountain still maintains, 
Nor feels the feeble touch. Perhaps the vale 
Relents a while to the reflected ray ; 
Or from the forest falls the cluster'd snow. 
Myriads of gems, that in the waving gleam 
Gay-twinkle as they scatter. Thick around 
Thunders the sport of those who, with the gun. 
And dog impatient bounding at the shot, 790 

Worse than the season, desolate the fields. 



WINTER. 157 

And, adding to the ruins of the year, 792 

Distress the footed or the feather'd game. 

But what is this 1 Our infant Winter sinks, 
Divested of his grandeur, should our eye 
Astonish'd shoot into the Frigid Zone, 
Where for relentless months continual Night 
Holds o'er the glittering waste her starry reign. 
There, through the prison of unbounded wilds, 
Barr'd by the hand of Nature from escape, 800 

Wide roams the Russian exile. Naught around 
Strikes his sad eye, but desarts lost in snow ; 
And heayy-loaded groves ; and solid floods. 
That stretch, athwart the solitary vast. 
Their icy horrors to the Frozen Main ; 
And cheerless towns far distant, never bless'd, 
Save when its annual course the caravan 
Bends to the golden coast of rich Cathay, 
With news of human-kind. Yet there life glows ; 
Yet cherish'd there, beneath the shining waste, sio 

The furry nations harbour : — tipp'd with jet, 
Fair ermines, spotless as the snows they press ; 
Sables, of glossy black ; and, dark-embrown'd, 
Or beauteous freak 'd with many a mingled hue. 
Thousands besides, the costly pride of courts. 
There, warm together press'd, the trooping deer 
Sleep on the new-fallen snows ; and, scarce his head 
Raised o'er the heapy wreath, the branching elk 
Lies slumbering sullen in the white abyss. 
The ruthless hunter wants nor dogs nor toils, 820 

Nor with the dread of sounding bows he drives 
The fearful flying race : with ponderous clubs. 
As weak against the mountain-heaps they push 
Their beating breast in vain, and piteous bray. 
He lays them quivering on tli' ensangufn'd snows. 



158 WINTER. 

And with loud shouts rejoicing bears them home. f^^e 
There through the pinj forest, half absorb'd, 
Rough tenant of these shades, the shapeless bear, 
With dangling ice all horrid, stalks forlorn, 
Slow-pac'd, and sourer as the storms increase ; 
Pie makes his bed beneath th' inclement drift, 
And, with stern patience, scorning weak complaint, 
Hardens his heart against assailing want. 

Wide o'er the spacious regions of the North, 
That see Bootes urge his tardy wain, 
A boisterous race, by frosty Caurus^ pierc'd, 
Who little pleasure know and fear no pain. 
Prolific swarm. They once relum'd the flame 
Of lost mankind in polish'd slavery sunk. 
Drove martial horde on horde, with dreadful sweep s^o 
Resistless rushing o'er th' enfeebled South, 
And gave the vanquish'd world another form. 
Not such the sons of Lapland : wisely they 
Despise th' insensate barbarous trade of war ; 
They ask no more than simple Nature gives ; 
They love their mountains, and enjoy their storms. 
No false desires, no pride-created wants. 
Disturb the peaceful current of their time, 
And through the restless, ever-tortur'd maze 
Of pleasure or ambition bid it rage. 850 

Their reindeer form their riches. These their tents. 
Their robes, their beds, and all their homely wealth 
Supply, their wholesome fare and cheerful cups. 
Obsequious at their call, the docile tribe 
Yield to the sled their necks, and whirl them swift 
O'er hill and dale, heap'd into one expanse 
Of marbled snow, or, far as eye can sweep, 
AVith a blue crust of ice unbounded glaz' d. 

* ' Caurus : ' the north-west wind. 



WINTEE. 159 

Bj dancing meteors then, that ceaseless shake 8i59 

A waving blaze refracted o'er the heavens, 

And vivid moons, and stars that keener play 

With double lustre from the glossy waste, 

Even in the depth of polar night, they find 

A wondrous day ; enough to light the chase, 

Or guide their daring steps to Finland fairs. 

Wish'd Spring returns ; and from the hazy South, 

While dim Aurora slowly moves before. 

The welcome Sun, just verging up at first. 

By small degrees extends the swelling curve ; 

Till, seen at last for gay rejoicing months, 87 o 

Still, round and round, his spiral course he winds, 

And, as he nearly dips his flaming orb, 

Wheels up again, and re-ascends the sky. 

In that glad season, from the lakes and floods. 

Where pure Niemi's^ fairy mountains rise, 

And fring'd with roses Tenglio^ rolls his stream, 

They draw the copious fry. With these, at eve, 

They cheerful-loaded to their tents repair. 

Where, all day long in useful cares employed, 

Their kind unblemish'd wives the fire prepare. 880 

Thrice happy race ! by poverty securM 

From legal plunder and rapacious pow'r; 

In whom feU interest never yet has sown 

The seeds of vice ; whose spotless swains ne'er knew 

Injurious deed, nor, blasted by the breath 

Of faithless love, their blooming daughters woe. 

Still pressing on, beyond Tornea's lake, 
And Hecla flaming through a waste of snow, 
And farthest Greenland, to the Pole itself^ 
Where, failing gradual, life at length goes out, 

' ' Niemi : ' a beautiful ridge in Lapland, said to be haunted by fairies. — 
* ' Tenglio : ' a river in Lapland fringed by roses. 



160 WINTER. 

The Muse expands her solitary flight ; 89i 

And, hovering o'er the wild stupendous scene, 

Beholds new seas beneath another skj, 

Thron'd in his palace of cerulean ice, 

Here Winter holds his unrejoicing court ; 

And through his airy hall the loud misrule 

Of driving tempest is for ever heard. 

Here the grim tyrant meditates his wrath ; 

Here arms his winds with all-subduing frost ; 

Moulds his fierce hail, and treasures up his snows, 900 

With which he now oppresses half the globe. 

Thence winding eastward to the Tartar's coast. 
She sweeps the howling margin of the main ; 
Where, undissolving, from the first of time, 
Snows swell on snows amazing to the sky ; 
And icy mountains high, on mountains pil 'd, 
Seem to the shiv'ring sailor from afar. 
Shapeless and white, an atmosphere of clouds. 
Projected huge and horrid o'er the surge, 
Alps frown on Alps ; or, rushing hideous down, 9io 

As if old Chaos was again return'd, 
Wide-rend the deep, and shake the solid Pole. 
Ocean itself no longer can resist 
The binding fury ; but, in all its rage 
Of tempest taken by the boundless frost, 
[s many a fathom to the bottom chain'd. 
And bid to roar no more : a bleak expanse, 
Shagg'd o'er with wavy rocks, cheerless, and void 
Of every life, that from the dreary months 
Flies conscious southward. Miserable they, 920 

Who, here entangled in the gath'ring ice. 
Take their last look of the descending sun ; 
While, full of death, and fierce with tenfold frost, 
The long, long night, incumbent o'er their heads. 



WINTER. 161 

Falls horrible ! Such was the Briton's ^ fate, 925 

As with first prow (what have not Britons dar'd ?) 

He for the passage sought, attempted since 

So much in vain, and seeming to be shut 

Bj jealous Nature with eternal bars. 

In these fell regions, in Arzina caught, 930 

And to the stony deep his idle ship 

Immediate seal'd, he with his hapless crew. 

Each full exerted at his several task. 

Froze into statues ; to the cordage glu'd 

The sailor, and the pilot to the helm. 

Hard bj these shores, where scarce his freezing stream 
Rolls the wild Obj, live the last of men ; 
And, half enliven'd by the distant sun. 
That rears and ripens man, as well as plants, 
Here human nature wears its rudest form. 940 

Deep from the piercing Season sunk in caves, 
Here bj dull fires, and with unjojous cheer, 
Thej waste the tedious gloom. Immers'd in furs. 
Doze the gross race : nor sprightly jest, nor song, 
Nor tenderness they know ; nor aught of life. 
Beyond the kindred bears that stalk without : 
Till Morn at length, her roses drooping all, ' 

Sheds a long twilight brightening o'er their fields, 
And calls the quiver'd savage to the chase. 

What cannot active government perform, 950 

New-moulding man 1 Wide-stretching from these shores, 
A people savage from remotest time, 
A huge neglected empire, one vast mind. 
By heaven inspir'd, from Gothic darkness call'd. 
Immortal Peter ! first of monarchs ! He 
His stubborn country tam'd, — her rocks, her fens, 

• ' Briton : ' Sir Hugh Willougliby, sent by Queen Elizabeth to discover the 
north-east passage. 



162 WINTER. 

Her floods, her seas, her ill-submitting sons ; 957 

And while the fierce barbarian he subdu'd, 

To more exalted soul he rais'd the man. 

Ye shades of ancient heroes, ye who toil'd 

Through long successive ages to build up 

A labouring plan of state, behold at once 

The wonder done ! behold the matchless prince, 

Who left his native throne, where reign'd till then 

A mighty shadow of unreal power ; 

Who greatly spurn'd the slothful pomp of courts ; 

And, roaming every land, in every port 

His sceptre laid aside, with glorious hand 

Unwearied plying the mechanic tool ; 

Gather'd the seeds of trad,e, of useful arts, 970 

Of civil wisdom, or of martial skill ! 

Charg'd with the stores of Europe, home he goes : 

Then cities rise amid th' illumin'd waste ; 

O'er joyless deserts smiles the rural reign ; 

Far-distant flood to flood is social join'd ; 

Th' astonish'd Euxine hears the Baltic roar ; 

Proud navies ride on seas that never foam'd 

With daring keel before ; and armies stretch 

Each way their dazzling files, repressing here 

The frantic Alexander of the North, 980 

And aweing there stern Othman's shrinking sons. 

Sloth flies the land, and Ignorance, and Vice, 

Of old dishonour proud : it glows around, 

Taught by the royal hand that rous'd the whole. 

One scene of arts, of arms, of rising trade : 

For what his wisdom plann'd, and power enforc'd, ' 

More potent still, his great example show'd. 

Muttering, the winds at eve, with blunted point, 
Blow hollow -blust' ring from the South. Subdu'd, 
The frost resolves into a trickling thaw. 



WINTER. 1 6'S 

Spotted the mountains shine : loose sleet descends, 991 
And floods the country round. The rivers swell, 
Of bonds impatient. Sudden from the hills, 
O'er rocks and woods, in broad brown cataracts, 
A thousand snow-fed torrents shoot at once ; 
And, where thej rush, the wide-resounding plain 
Is left one slimy waste. Those sullen seas. 
That wash'd th' ungenial Pole, will rest no more 
Beneath the shackles of the mighty North, 
But, rousing all their waves, resistless heave. 1000 

And, hark ! the lengthening roar continuous runs 
Athwart the rifted deep : at once it bursts. 
And piles a thousand mountains to the clouds. 
Ill fares the bark, with trembling wretches charg'd, 
That, toss'd amid the floating fragments, moors 
Beneath the shelter of an icy isle. 
While night o'erwhelms the sea, and horror looks 
More horrible. Can human force endure 
Th' assembled mischiefs that besiege them round 1 — 
Heart-gnawing hunger, fainting weariness, loio 

The roar of winds and waves, the crush of ice, 
Now ceasing, now renew'd with louder rage. 
And in dire echoes bellowing round the main. 
More to embroil the deep, Leviathan 
And his unwieldy train, in dreadful sport. 
Tempest the loosen'd brine ; while through the gloom, 
Far from the bleak inhospitable shore. 
Loading the winds, is heard the hungry howl 
Of famish'd monsters, there awaiting wrecks. 
Yet Providence, that ever-waking Eye, « 1020 

Looks down with pity on the feeble toil 
Of mortals lost to hope, and lights them safe. 
Through all this dreary labyrinth of fate. » — 
'Tis done ! dread AVinter spreads his latest glooms. 



1^4 WINTER. 

And reigns tremendous o'er the conquered year. 1025 

How dead the vegetable kingdom lies ! 

How dumb tlie tuneful ! Horror wide extends 

His desolate domain. Behold, fond man ! 

See here thj pictured life ; pass some few years. 

Thy flowering Spring, thy Summer's ardent strength, 

Thy sober Autumn fading into age, 1031 

And pale concluding Winter comes at last, 

And shuts the scene. Ah ! whither now are fled 

Those dreams of greatness, those unsolid hopes 

Of happiness, those longings after fame. 

Those restless cares, those busy bustling days, 

Those gay-spent festive nights, those veering thoughts 

Lost between good and ill, that shar'd thy life 1 

All now are vanish'd ! Virtue sole survives, 

Immortal, never-failing friend of man, i040 

His guide to happiness on high. — And see! 

'Tis come, the glorious morn, the second birth 

Of heav'n and earth ! Awakening Nature hears 

The new-creating word, and starts to life. 

In every heighten'd form, from pain and death 

For ever free. The great eternal scheme, 

Involving all, and in a perfect whole 

Uniting, as the prospect wider spreads. 

To Reason's eye refin'd clears up apace. 

Ye vainly wise I ye blind presumptuous ! now, 1050 

Confounded in the dust, adore that Power 

And Wisdom oft arraign'd : see now the cause 

Why unassuming worth in secret livM, 

And died neglected ; why the good man's share 

In life was gall and bitterness of soul ; 

Why the lone widow and her orphans pin'd 

In starving solitude, while Luxury 

In palaces lay straining her low thought 



A HYMN. 165 

To form unreal wants ; why heav'n-born Truth, 1059 

And Moderation fair, wore the red marks 

Of Superstition's scourge ; why licens'd Pain, 

That cruel spoiler, that embosom'd foe, 

Embitter'd all our bliss. Ye good distress'd ! 

Ye noble few, who here unbending stand 

Beneath life's pressure ! yet bear up a while 

And what your bounded view, which only saw 

A little part, deem'd evil, is no more : 

The storms of Wintry Time wiU quickly pass. 

And one unbounded Spring encircle all. 



A HYMK 



These, as they change. Almighty Father, these . 

Are but the varied God ! The rolling year 

Is full of Thee. Forth in the pleasing Spring " 

Thy beauty walks. Thy tenderness and love. 

Wide flush the fields ; the soft'ning air is balm ; 

Echo the mountains round ; the forest smiles ; 

And every sense, and every heart, is joy. 

Then comes Thy glory in the Summer months, 

With light and heat refulgent. Then Thy sun 

Shoots full perfection through the swelling year ; 10 

And oft Thy voice in dreadful thunder speaks ; 

And oft at dawn, deep noon, or falling eve, , 

By brooks and groves, in hollow-whispering gales. 

Thy bounty shines in Autumn unconfinM, 

And spreads a common feast for all that lives. 

In Winter awful Thou ! with clouds and storms 

Around Thee thrown, tempest o'er tempest roll'd, 

Majestic darkness ! on the whirlwind's wing 



166 A HYMN. 

Riding sublime, Thou bidd'st tlie world adore, i& 

And humblest Nature with Thj northern blast. 

Mysterious round ! what skill, wliat force divine. 
Deep-felt, in these appear ! a simple train. 
Yet so delightful mix'd, with such kind art, 
Such beauty and beneficence combin'd ; 
Shade, unperceiv'd, so softening into shade ; 
And all so forming an harmonious whole ; 
That, as they still succeed, they ravish still. 
But wand' ring oft, with brute unconscious gaze, 
Man marks not Thee, marks not the mighty Hand 
That, ever busy, wheels the silent spheres ; ao 

Works in the secret deep ; shoots, steaming, thence 
The fair profusion that o'erspreads the Spring ; 
Flings from the sun direct the flaming day ; 
Feeds every creature ; hurls the tempest forth ; 
And, as on earth this grateful change revolves. 
With transport touches all the springs of life. 

Nature, attend ! join every living soul, 
Beneath the spacious temple of the sky, 
In adoration join, and, ardent, raise 
One general song ! To Him, ye vocal gales, ^o 

Breathe soft, whose Spirit in your freshness breathes : 
Oh, talk of Him in solitary glooms. 
Where, o'er the rock, the scarcely waving pine 
Fills the brown shade with a religious awe ! 
And ye, whose bolder note is heard afar. 
Who shake th' astonish'd world, lift high to heav'n 
Th' impetuous song, and say from whom you rage. 
His praise, ye brooks, attune, ye trembling rills ; 
And let me catch it as I muse along. 
Ye headlong torrents, rapid and profound ; ^o 

Ye softer floods, that lead the humid maze 
Along the vale ; and thou, majestic mam. 



A HYMN. 167 

A secret world of wonders in thyself, 53 

Sound His stupendous praise ; whose greater voice 

Or bids jou roar, or bids jour roarings fall. 

Soft roll your incense, herbs, and fruits, and flow'rs. 

In mingled clouds to Him, whose sun exalts, 

Whose breath perfumes you, and whose pencil paints. 

Ye forests, bend, ye harvests, wave, to Him ; 

Breathe your still song into the reaper's heart, 60 

As home he goes beneath the joyous moon. 

Ye that keep watch in heaven, as earth asleep 

Unconscious lies, effuse your mildest beams, 

Ye constellations, while your angels strike. 

Amid the spangled sky, the silver lyre. 

Great source of day! best image here below 

Of thy Creator, ever pouring wide, 

From world to world, the vital ocean round ! 

On Nature write with every beam His praise. 

The thunder rolls : be hush'd the prostrate world, 70 

While cloud to cloud returns the solemn hymn. 

Bleat out afresh, ye hills ; ye mossy rocks, 

Retain the sound ; the broad responsive low. 

Ye valleys, raise ; for the Great Shepherd reigns, 

And His unsuffermg kingdom yet will come. 

Ye woodlands all, awake : a boundless song 

Burst from the groves ; and when the restless day. 

Expiring, lays the warbling world asleep, 

Sweetest of birds, sweet Philomela, charm 

The listening shades, and teach the night His praise ! 

Ye chief, for whom the whole creation smiles, 8I 

At once the head, the heart, and tongue of all. 

Crown the great hymn ! In swarming cities vast. 

Assembled men, to the deep organ join 

The long-resounding voice, oft breaking clear, 

At solemn pauses, through the swelhng bass ; 



168 A HYMN. 

And, as each mingling flame increases eacli, 87 

In one united ardour rise to heav'n. 

Or if jou rather choose the rural shade, 

And find a fane in every sacred grove, 

There let the shepherd's flute, the virgin's laj, 

The prompting seraph, and the poet's Ijre, 

Still sing the God of Seasons, as thej roll. 

For me, when I forget the darling theme, 

"Whether the blossom blows, the Summer ray 

Russets the plain, inspiring Autumn gleams. 

Or AVinter rises in the black 'ning east, 

Be my tongue mute, my Fancy paint no more, 

And, dead to joy, forget my heart to beat ! 

Should Fate command me to the farthest verge lOO 
Of the green earth, to distant barbarous climes. 
Rivers unknown to song ; where first the sun 
Gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beam 
Flames on th' Atlantic isles ; 'tis naught to me ; 
Since God is ever present, ever felt. 
In the void waste as in the city full ; 
And where He vital breathes, there must be joy. 
When even at last the solemn hour shall come. 
And wing my mystic flight to future worlds, 
I cheerful will obey; there, with new pow'rs, no 

"Will rising wonders sing. I cannot go 
Where Universal Love not smiles around, 
Sustaining all yon orbs, and all their sons ; 
From seeming evil still educing good. 
And better thence again, and better still, 

In infinite progression. But I lose 

Myself in Him, in Light ineffable ! 

Come, then, expressive Silence, muse His praise ! 



LIBERTY: 
91 lg)0em, m JFtbe parts. 



PAET I. MCIENT AND MODERN ITALY COMPARED. 



CONTENTS. 

The following Poem is thrown into the form of a Poetical Vision. Its scene, 
the ruins of ancient Rome. The Goddess of Liberty, who is supposed to 
speak through the whole, appears, characterised as British Liberty. Gives 
a view of ancient Italy, and particularly of republican Rome, in all her 
magnificence and glory. This contrasted by modern Italy ; its valleys, 
mountains, culture, cities, people : the difference appearing strongest in 
the capital city, Rome. The ruins of the great works of Liberty more 
magnificent than the borrowed pomp of Oppression ; and from them 
revived Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture. The old Romans apostro- 
phised with regard to the several melancholy changes in Italy : Horace, 
Tully, and Vii-gil, with regard to their Tibur, Tusculum, and Naples. That 
once finest and most ornamented part of Italy, all along the coast of 
Baiae, how changed. This desolation of Italy applied to Britain. Address 
to the Goddess of Liberty, that she would deduce from the first ages her 
chief establishments, the description of which constitute the subject of the 
following parts of this Poem. She assents, and commands what she says 
to be sung in Britain ; whose happiness, arising from fi-eedom and a 
limited monarchy, she marks. An immediate Vision attends, and paints 
her words. Invocation. 

MY lamented Talbot ! while with thee 
The Muse gaj rov'd the glad Hesperian round, 
And drew th' inspiring breath of ancient arts ; 
Ah ! little thought she her returning verse 



1 70 LIBERTY. 

Should sing our darling subject to thy Shade. s 

And does the mystic yeil from mortal beam 

Involve those eyes where every virtue smil'd, 

And all thy Father's candid spirit shone 1 — 

The light of reason, pure, without a cloud ; 

Full of the generous heart, the mild regard ; lo 

Honour disdaining blemish, cordial faith, 

And limpid truth, that looks the very soul. 

But to the death of mighty nations turn 

My strain ; be there absorb'd the private tear. 

Musing I lay, warm from the sacred walks, 
Where at each step imagination burns ; 
While, scatter'd wide around, awful and hoar. 
Lies, a vast monument, once-glorious Rome, 
The tomb of empire ! ruins that efface 
Whate'er of j&nish'd modern pomp can boast ! 20 

Snatch'd by these wonders to that world where though I 
Unfetter'd ranges, Fancy's magic hand 
Led me anew o'er all the solemn scene. 
Still in the mind's pure eye more solemn dress'd ; 
When straight, methought, the fair majestic Pow'r 
Of Liberty appear'd. Not, as of old. 
Extended in her hand the cap, and rod. 
Whose slave-enlarging touch gave double life ; 
But her bright temples bound with British oak, 
And naval honours nodded on her brow. 30 

Sublime of port : loose o'er her shoulder flow'd 
Her sea-green robe, with constellations gay. 
An island-goddess now ; and her high care 
The Queen of Isles, the mistress of the main. 
My heart beat filial transport at the sight ; 
And, as she mov'd to speak, th' awaken'd Muse 
Listen'd intense. A while she look'd around. 



ANCIENT AND MODERN ITALY COMPARED. 171 

With mournful eye tlie well-known ruins marked ; S8 
And then, her sighs repressing, thus began : — 

" Mine are these wonders, all thou seest is mine ; 
But ah, how chang'd! the falling poor remains 
Of what exalted once th' Ausonian shore. 
Look back through time ; and, rising from the gloom, 
Mark the dread scene, that paints whate'er I say. 

" The great Republic see! that glow'd sublime 
With the mix'd freedom of a thousand states ; 
Rais'd on the thrones of kings her Curule Chair, 
x\nd by her Fasces awed the subject world. 
See busy millions quickening all the land, 
With cities throng' d, and teeming culture high : 5o 

For Nature then smil'd on her free-born sons. 
And pour'd the plenty that belongs to men. 
Behold, the country cheering, Yillas rise 
In lively prospect, by the secret lapse 
Of brooks now lost and streams renown'd in song : 
In Umbria's closing vales, or on the brow 
Of her brown hills that breathe the scented gale ; 
On Baise's viny coast, where peaceful seas, 
Fann'd by kind zephyrs, ever kiss the shore. 
And suns unclouded shine through purest air : no 

Or in the spacious neighbourhood of Rome ; 
Far-shining upward to the Sabine hills, 
To Anio's roar, and Tibur's olive shade, 
To where Preneste lifts her airy brow ; 
Or downward spreading to the sunny shore, 
Where Alba breathes the freshness of the main. 

" See distant mountains leave their valleys dry. 
And o'er the proud Arcade their tribute pour 
To lave imperial Rome. For ages laid, 
Deep, massy, firm, diverging every way, 7o 

With tombs of heroes sacred, see her roads : 



1 72 LIBERTY. 

By various nations trod, and suppliant kings ; 72 

With legions flaming, or with triumph gay. 

" Full in the centre of these wondrous works, 
The pride of earth ! Rome in her glorj see ! 
Behold her demigods, in senate met ; 
All head to counsel, and all heart to act : 
The commonweal inspiring every tongue 
With fervent eloquence, unbrib'd and bold ; 
Ere tame Corruption taught the servile herd so 

To rank obedient to a master's voice. 

" Her Forum see, warm, popular, and loud, 
In trembling wonder hush'd, when the two Sires,^ 
As they the private father greatly quell'd. 
Stood up the public fathers of the state. 
See Justice judging there in human shape. 
Hark how with Freedom's voice it thunders high, 
Or in soft murmurs sinks to Tully's tongue. 

" Her Tribes, her Census, see ; her generous troops, 
Whose pay was glory, and their best reward 90 

Free for their country and for me to die, 
Ere mercenary murder grew a trade. 

" Mark, as the purple triumph waves along, 
The highest pomp and lowest fall of life. 

" Her festive games, the school of heroes, see ; 
Her Circus, ardent with contending youth ; 
Her streets, her temples, palaces, and baths, 
Full of fair forms, of Beauty's eldest-born, 
And of a people cast in Virtuous mould: 
While Sculpture lives around, and Asian hills lOO 

Lend their best stores to heave the pillar'd dome ; 
All that to Roman strength the softer touch 
Of Grecian art can join. But language fails 
To paint this sun, this centre of mankind ; 

' ' Two Sires : ' L. J. Brutus and Virginias. 



ANCIENT AND MODERN ITALY COMPARED. 173 

Where every virtue, glorj, treasure, art, 105 

Attracted strong, in heigliten'd lustre met. 

" Need I the contrast mark 1 unjojous view ! 
A land in all, in government and arts, 
In virtue, genius, earth and heav'n, reversed, 
Who, but these far-fam'd ruins to behold, — 110 

Proofs of a people whose heroic aims 
Soar'd far above the little selfish sphere 
Of doubting modern life ; who, but inflam'd 
With classic zeal, these consecrated scenes 
Of men and deeds to trace, — unhappy land, 
Would trust thy wilds, and cities loose of sway 1 

" Are these the vales that once exulting states 
In their warm bosom fed ? the mountains these. 
On whose high-blooming sides my sons of old 
I bred to glory ? these dejected towns, 120 

Where, mean and sordid, life can scarce subsist, 
The scenes of ancient opulence and pomp 1 

" Come ! by whatever sacred name disguis'd, — 
Oppression, come ! and in thy works rejoice ! 
See Nature's richest plains to putrid fens 
Turn'd by thy fury. From their cheerful bounds, 
See raz'd th' enlivening village, farm, and seat. 
First, rural Toil, by thy rapacious hand 
Robb'd of his poor reward, resign'd the plough ; 
And now he dares not turn the noxious glebe. i^o 

'Tis thine entire. The lonely swain himself, 
Who loves at large along the grassy downs 
His flocks to pasture, thy drear champaign flies. 
Far as the sickening eye can sweep around, 
*Tis now one desart, desolate and grey, 
Graz'd by the sullen buff'alo alone ; 
And where the rank uncultivated growth 
Of rotting ages taints the passmg gale. 



1 74 LIBERTY. 

BeDeatli, the baleM blast the city pines, iss 

Or sinks enfeebled, or infected burns. 

Beneath it mourns the solitary road, 

RoU'd in rude mazes o'er th' abandon'd waste ; 

While ancient ways, ingulf'd, are seen no more. 

" Such thy dire plains, thou self-destroyer! foe 
To human-kind ! Thy mountains, too, profuse. 
Where savage Nature blooms, seem their sad plaint 
To raise against thy desolating rod. 
There on the breezy brow, where thriving states, 
And famous cities, once, to the pleas 'd Sun 
Far other scenes of rising culture spread, i50 

Pale shine thy ragged towns. Neglected round, 
Each harvest pines, the livid, lean produce 
Of heartless labour ; while thy hated joys, 
Not proper pleasure, lift the lazy hand. 
Better to sink in sloth the woes of life, 
Than wake their rage with unavailing toil. 
Hence drooping Art almost to Nature leaves 
The rude unguided year. Thin wave the gifts 
Of yellow Ceres ; thin the radiant blush 
Of orchard reddens in the warmest ray. leo 

To weedy wildness run, no rural wealth 
(Such as dictators fed) the garden pours. 
Crude the wild olive flows, and foul the vine ; 
Nor juice Csecubian, nor Falernian, more 
Streams life and joy, save in the Muse's bowl. 
Unseconded by art, the spinning race 
Draw the bright thread in vain, and idly toil. 
In vain, forlorn in wilds, the citron blows, 
And flow' ring plants perfume the desart gale ; 
Through the vile thorn the tender myrtle twines : i70 
Inglorious droops the laurel, dead to song, 
And long a stranger to the hero's brow. 



ANCIENT AND MODERN ITALY COMPARED. 175 

" Nor half thj triumph this : cast, from brute fields, 
Into the haunts of men thj ruthless eye. in 

There buxom Plenty never turns her horn ; 
The grace and yirtue of exterior life, 
No clean Convenience reigns ; even Sleep itself. 
Least delicate of powers, reluctant, there 
Lays on the bed impure his heavy head. 
Thy horrid walk ! dead, empty, unadorn'd, i86 

See streets whose echoes never know the voice 
Of cheerful Hurry, Commerce many-tougued, 
And Art mechanic at his various task, 
Fervent, employ 'd. Mark the desponding race. 
Of occupation void, as void of hope ; 
Hope, the glad ray, glanc d from Eternal Good, 
That life enlivens, and exalts its pow'rs, 
With views of fortune, — madness all to them ! 
By thee relentless seiz'd their better joys, 
To the soft aid of cordial airs they fly, iso 

Breathing a kind oblivion o'er their woes. 
And love and music melt their souls away. 
From feeble Justice see how rash Revenge, 
Trembling, the balance snatches ; and the sword. 
Fearful himself, to venal ruffians gives. 
See where God's altar, nursing murder, stands. 
With the red touch of dark assassins stain'd. 

" But chief let Rome, the mighty city, speak 
The full-exerted genius of thy reign ! 
Behold her rise amid the lifeless waste, 200 

Expiring Nature a'll corrupted round ; 
While the lone Tiber, through the desert plain, 
Winds his waste stores, and sullen sweeps along. 
Patch'd from my fragments, in unsolid pomp, 
Mark how the temple glares, and, artful dress'd, 
Amusive, draws the superstitious train ! 



1 76 LIBERTY. 

Mark how the palace lifts a lying front, 207 

Concealing often in magnific jail 

Proud Want ; — a deep, unanimated gloom ! 

And oft adjoining to the drear abode 

Of Misery, whose melancholy walls 

Seem its voracious grandeur to reproach. 

Within the city bounds, the desart see. 

See the rank vine o'er subterranean roofs 

Indecent spread ; beneath whose fretted gold 

It once, exulting, flow'd. The people mark. 

Matchless, while fir 'd by me ; to public good 

Inexorably firm, just, generous, brave, 

Afraid of nothing but unworthy life, 

Elate with glory, an heroic soul 220 

Known to the vulgar breast : behold them now 

A thin despairing number, all-subdu'd, 

The slaves of slaves, by Superstition fool'd. 

By Vice unmann'd and a licentious rule. 

In guile ingenious, and in murder brave. 

Such in one land, beneath the same fair clime, 

Thy sons. Oppression, are ; and such were mine. 

" Ev'n with thy labour'd pomp — for whose vain show 
Deluded thousands starve ; all age-begrim'd. 
Torn, robb'd, and scatter'd in unnumber'd sacks, 230 
And by the tempest of two thousand years 
Continual shaken — let my Ruins vie ; 
These roads, that yet the Roman hand assert, 
Beyond the weak repair of modern toil ; 
These fractur'd arches, that the chiding stream 
No more delighted hear ; these rich remains 
Of marbles now unknown, where shines imbib'd 
Each parent ray ; these massy columns, hew'd 
From Afric's farthest shore ; one granite all. 
These obelisks high-tow' ring to the sky, 



ANCIENT AND MODERN ITALY COMPAEED. 177 

Mysterious mark'd with dark Egyptian lore ; 211 

These endless wonders that this Sacred Way^ 

Illumine still, and consecrate to fame ; 

These fountains, vases, urns, and statues, charg'd 

With the fine stores of art-completing Greece. 

Mine is, besides, thy every later boast : 

Thy Buonarotis, thy Palladios, mine ; 

And mine the fair designs which Raphael's soul 

O'er the live canvas emanating breath 'd. 

" What would you say, ye conquerors of earth ! 250 
Ye Romans ! could you raise the laurell'd head ; 
Could you the country see, by seas of blood, 
And the dread toil of ages, won so dear ; 
Your pride, your triumph, your supreme delight. 
For whose defence oft, in the doubtful hour. 
You rush'd with rapture down the gulf of fate, 
Of death ambitious ! till, by awful deeds, 
Virtues, and courage, that amaze mankind, 
The queen of nations rose ; possess'd of all 
Which Nature, Art, and Glory could bestow ; — 260 
What would you say, deep in the last abyss 
Of slavery, vice, and unambitious want. 
Thus to behold her sunk '? Your crowded plains 
Void of their cities ; unadorn'd your hills ; 
Ungrac'd your lakes ; your ports to ships unknown ; 
Your lawless floods, and your abandon'd streams : 
These could you know ? these could you love again ? 
Thy Tiber, Horace, could it now inspire 
Content, poetic ease, and rural joy. 
Soon bursting into song ; while through the groves 270 
Of headlong Anio, dashing to the vale 
In many a tortur'd stream, you mus'd along ^ 

* ' Sacred Way : ' Via Sacra. 

M 



178 LIBERTY. 

Yon wild retreat, wliere Superstition dreams, 273 

Could, Tullj, jou your Tusculum ^ believe ? 

And could you deem yon naked hills, that form, 

Fam'd in old song, the ship-forsaken bay,^ 

Your Formian shore "? once the delight of earth, 

"Where Art and Nature, ever-smiling, join'd 

On the gay land to lavish all their stores. 

How chang'd, how vacant, Virgil, wide around, 280 

Would now your Naples seem ! disaster'd less 

By black Vesuvius thund'ring o'er the coast, 

His midnight earthquakes, and his mining fires. 

Than by despotic rage : that inward gnaws, 

A native foe : s^. foreign, tears without. 

First from your flatter'd Caesars this began ; 

Till, doom'd to tyrants an eternal prey, 

Thin-peopled spreads, at last, the siren plain, ^ 

That the dire soul of Hannibal disarm'd ; 

And wrapp'd in weeds the shore of Venus^ lies. 290 

There Baise sees no more the joyous throng, 

Her bank all beaming with the pride of Rome : 

No generous vines now bask along the hills, 

Where sport the breezes of the Tyrrhene main : 

With baths and temples mix'd, no villas rise ; 

Nor, art-sustain'd amid reluctant waves, 

Draw the cool murmurs of the breathing deep : 

No spreading ports their sacred arms extend : 

No mighty moles the big intrusive storm, 

From the calm station, roll resounding back. 300 

An almost total desolation sits, 

' ' Tusculum ' is reckoned to have stood at a place now called Grotta Fer- 
rata, a convent of monks. — * ' Ship-forsaken bay : ' the bay of Mola (an- 
ciently Formias), into which Homer brings Ulysses and his companions. 
Near Formiss, Cicero had a villa. — ' ' Siren plain : ' Campagna Felice, ad- 
joining to Capua. — * ' Shore of Venus : ' the coast of Baise, where, amidst 
many magnificent ruins, those of a temple erected to Venus are still to be seen. 



ANCIENT AND MODERN ITALY COMPARED. 179 

A dreary stillness, saddening o'er the coast ; 802 

Where, when soft suns and tepid winters rose, 

Rejoicing crowds inhal'd the balm of peace ; 

Where citied hill to hill reflected blaze ; 

And where, with Ceres, Bacchus wont to hold 

A genial strife. Her youthfid form, robust, 

Ev'n Nature yields, by fire and earthquake rent ; 

Whole stately cities in the dark abrupt 

Swallow'd at once, or vile in rubbish laid, 310 

A nest for serpents ; from the red abyss 

New hills, explosive, thrown ; the Lucrine lake 

A reedy pool ; and all to Cuma's point, 

The sea recovering his usurp'd domain, 

And pour'd triumphant o'er the buried dome. 

" Hence, Britain, learn; my best-establish'd, last, 
And, more than Greece or Rome, my steady reign ; 
The land where. King and People equal bound 
By guardian laws, my fullest blessings flow ; 
And where my jealous, unsubmitting soul, 320 

The dread of tyrants ! burns in every breast ; — 
Learn hence, if such the miserable fate 
Of an heroic race, the masters once 
Of human-kind, what, when depriv'd of me, 
How grievous, must be thine ! In spite of climes, 
Whose sun-enliven'd ether wakes the soul 
To higher powers ; in spite of happy soils. 
That, but by Labour's slightest aid impell'd, 
With treasures teem to thy cold clime unknown ; 
If there desponding fail the common arts 330 

And sustenance of life ; could life itself. 
Far less a thoughtless tyrant's hoUow pomp, 
Subsist with thee 1 Against depressing skies, 
Join'd to full-spread Oppression's cloudy brow, 
How could thy spirits hold 1 where vigour find, 



180 LIBERTY. 

Forc'd fruits to tear from their unnative soil? 336 

Or, storing every harvest in thy ports, 

To plough the dreadful, all-producing wave V* 

Here pausM the Goddess. By the pause assui^'d, 
In trembling accents thus I mov'd my prayer : 
" first and most benevolent of powers ! 
Come from eternal splendours, here on earth, 
Against despotic pride, and rage, and lust, 
To shield mankind ; to raise them to assert 
The native rights and honour of their race : 
Teach me, thy lowest subject, but in zeal 
Yielding to none, the progress of thy reign. 
And with a strain from thee enrich the Muse. 
As thee alone she serves, her patron thou 
And great inspirer be ! Then will she joy, 350 

Through narrow life her lot and private shade. 
And when her venal voice she barters vile, 
Or to thy open or thy secret foes. 
May ne'er those sacred raptures touch her more, 
By slavish hearts unfelt ! and may her song 
Sink in oblivion with the nameless crew, 
Vermin of state ! to thy o'erflowing light 
That owe their being, yet betray thy cause." 

Then, condescending kind, the heavenly Pow'r 
Return'd : " What here, suggested by the scene, 360 
I slight unfold, record and sing at home. 
In that blest isle, where (so we spirits move) 
With one quick effort of my will I am. 
There Truth unlicens'd walks, and dares accost 
Ev'n kings themselves, the monarchs of the free ! 
Fix'd on my rock, there an indulgent race 
O'er Britons wield the sceptre of their choice : 
And there, to finish what his sires began, 
A prince behold, for me who burns sincere, 



ANCIENT AND MODERN ITALY COMPARED. 181 

Ev'n with a subject's zeal. He mj great work 370 

Will, parent-like, sustain ; and added give 

The touch the Graces and the Muses owe. 

For Britain's glorj swells his panting breast ; 

And ancient arts he emulous revolves : 

His pride, to let the smiling heart abroad, 

Through clouds of pomp, that but conceal the man ; 

To please, his pleasure ; bounty, his delight ; 

And all the soul of Titus dwells in him." 

Hail, glorious theme ! But how, alas ! shall verse. 
From the crude stores of mortal language drawn, 3 so 
How, faint and tedious, sing what, piercing deep. 
The Goddess flash'd at once upon my soul ? 
For, clear precision all, the tongue of gods 
Is harmony itself ; to every ear 
Familiar known, like light to every eye. 
Meantime, disclosing ages, as she spoke. 
In long succession pour'd their empires forth ; 
Scene after scene, the human drama spread ; 
And still th' embodied picture rose to sight. 

thou to whom the Muses owe their flame ; spo 

Who bidd'st beneath the pole Parnassus rise, 
And Hippocrene flow ; with thy bold ease, 
The striking force, the lightning of thy thought. 
And thy strong phrase, that rolls profound and clear, 
gracious Goddess ! re-inspire my song ; 
While I, to nobler than poetic fame 
Aspiring, thy commands to Britons bear. 




PAET 11. GEEECE. 



CONTENTS. 

Liberty traced from the pastoral ages, and the first uniting of neighbouring 
families into civil government. The several establishments of Liberty, in 
Egypt, Persia, Phoenicia, Palestine, slightly touched upon, down to her 
great establishment in Greece. Geographical description of Greece. 
Sparta and Athens, the two principal states of Greece, described. Li- 
fluence of Liberty over all the Grecian states, with regard to their 
Government, their Politeness, their Virtues, their Arts and Sciences. 
The vast superiority it gave them, in point of force and bravery, over 
the Persians, exemplified by the action of Thermopylas, the battle of 
Marathon, and the Retreat of the Ten Thousand. Its full exertion and 
most beautiful effects in Athens. Liberty the source of free philosophy. 
The vai-ious schools which took their rise from Socrates. Enumera- 
tion of Fine Arts : Eloquence, Poetry, Music, Sculpture, Painting, and 
Architecture ; the eff'ects of Liberty in Greece, and brought to their 
utmost perfection there. Transition to the modern state of Greece. Why 
Liberty declined, and was at last entirely lost, among the Greeks. Con- 
cluding Reflection. 

Thus spoke the Goddess of the fearless eye, 
And, at her ^ oice, renew'd, the Vision rose : — 

" First, in the dawn of time, with eastern swains, 
In woods, and tents, and cottages, I liv'd ; 
While on fiyDm plain to plain thej led their flocks, 
In search of clearer spring and fresher field. 
These, as increasing families disclosM 
The tender state, I taught an equal sway. 
Few were ofi*ences, properties, and laws. 
Beneath the rural portal, palm-o'erspread, lo 

The father-senate met. There Justice dealt, 
With Reason then and Equity the same, 



GREECE. 183 

Free as the common air, her prom^Jt decree ; 13 

Nor jet had stain'd her sword with subject's blood. 
The simpler arts were all their simple wants 
Had urg'd to light. But instant, these supplied, 
Another set of fonder wants arose, 
And other arts with them of finer aim ; 
Till, from refining want to want impell'd, 
The mind by thinking pusli'd her latent pow'rs, 20 

And life began to glow, and arts to shine. 
" At first, on brutes alone the rustic war 
Launch'd the rude spear ; swift, as he glar'd along, 
On the grim lion, or the robber wolf. 
For then young sportive Life was void of toil, 
Demanding little, and with little pleas 'd : 
But when to manhood grown, and endless joys. 
Led on by equal toils, the bosom fir'd. 
Lewd, lazy Rapine broke primeval peace, 
And, hid in caves and idle forests drear, 80 

From the lone pilgrim and the wand' ring swain, 
Seiz'd what he durst not earn. Then brother's blood 
First, horrid, smok'd on the polluted skies. 
Awful in justice, then the burning youth, 
Led by their temper'd sires, on lawless men. 
The last worst monsters of the shaggy wood, 
Turn'd the keen arrow and the sharpen'd spear. 
Then war grew glorious. Heroes then arose, 
Who, scorning coward self, for others liv'd, 
Toil'd for their ease, and for their safety bled. 40 

West with the living day to Greece I came : 
Earth smil'd beneath my beam : the Muse before 
Sonorous flew, that low till then in woods 
Had tun 'd the reed, and sigh'd the shepherd's pain ; 
But now, to sing heroic deeds, she swell'd 
A nobler note, and bade the banquet burn. 



184 LIBERTY. 

" For Greece mj sons of Egypt I forsook : 47 

A boastful race, that in the vain abyss 
Of fabling ages lov'd, to lose their source, 
And, with their river, trac'd it from the skies. 
While there my laws alone despotic reign'd, 
And king, as well as people, proud obey'd, 
I taught them science, virtue, wisdom, arts ; 
By poets, sages, legislators sought ; 
The school of polish'd life and human-kind. 
But when mysterious Superstition came. 
And, with her Civil Sister ^ leagu'd, involv'd 
In studied dariness the desponding mind, 
Then tyrant Power the righteous scourge unloos'd : 
For yielded reason speaks the soul a slave. co 

Instead of useful works, like Nature's, great, 
Enormous, cruel wonders crush'd the land ; 
And round a tyrant's tomb, ^ who none deserv' d, 
For one vile carcass perish'd countless lives. 
Then the great Dragon,^ couch'd amid his floods, 
Swell'd his fierce heart, and cried — ' This flood is mine, 
'Tis I that bid it flow.' But, undeceiv'd. 
His frenzy soon the proud blasphemer felt ; 
Felt that, without my fertilizing pow'r, 
Suns lost their force, and Niles o'erflow'd in vain. 70 
Naught could retard me : nor the frugal state 
Of rising Persia, sober in extreme. 
Beyond the pitch of man, and thence revers'd 
Into luxurious waste : nor yet the ports 
Of old Phoenicia, first for letters fam'd. 
That paint the voice, and silent speak to sight. 
Of arts prime source and guardian ; by fair stars 
First tempted out into the lonely deep ; 

' 'Civil Sister:' civil tyranny. — ^ 'Tyrant's tomb:' the pyramids. — 
* ' Dragon : ' the tyrants of Egypt ; see Ezekiel xxix. 



GREECE. 185 

To whom I first disclos'd meclianic arts, 79 

The winds to conquer, to subdue the waves, 

With all the peaceful power of ruling trade ; 

Earnest of Britain, Nor by these retain'd ; 

Nor by the neighbouring land, whose palmy shore 

The silver Jordan laves. Before me lay 

The promis'd land of Arts, and urg'd my flight. 

" Hail, Nature's utmost boast ! unrivall'd Greece ! 
My fairest reign ! where every pow'r benign 
Conspir'd to blow the flower of human -kind, 
And lavish'd all that genius can inspire : — 
Clear sunny climates, by the breezy main, 90 

Ionian or j35gean, temper'd kind ; 
Light, airy soils ; a country rich and gay ; 
Broke into hills with balmy odours crown'd, 
And, bright with purple harvest, joyous vales : 
Mountains and streams, where verse spontaneous flow'd 
Whence deem'd by wond'ring men the seat of gods, 
And still the mountains and the streams of song : 
All that boon Nature could luxuriant pour 
Of high materials, and my restless arts 
Frame into finish'd life. How many states, lOO 

And clustering towns, and monuments of fame, 
And scenes of glorious deeds, in little bounds ! 
From the rough tract of bending mountains, beat 
By Adria's here, there by ^gean, waves ; 
To where the deep-adorning Cyclade Isles 
In shining prospect rise, and on the shore 
Of farthest Crete resounds the Lybian Main. 

" O'er all two rival cities rear'd the brow, 
And balanc'd aU. Spread on Eurotas' bank. 
Amid a circle of soft-rising hills, no 

The patient Sparta one : the sober, hard, 
And man-subduing city ; which no shape 



186 LIBERTY. 

Of pain could conquer, nor of pleasure charm. 113 

Lycurgus there built, on the solid base 
Of equal life, so well a temper'd state. 
Where mix'd each gOYernment in such just poise, 
Each power so checking and supporting each, 
That firm for ages and unmov'd it stood, 
The fort of Greece, without one giddj hour, 
One shock of faction or of party-rage. 120 

For, drain'd the springs of wealth. Corruption there 
Lay wither'd at the root. Thrice happy land ! 
Had not neglected Art, with weedy Vice 
Confounded, sunk. But if Athenian arts 
Lov'd not the soil ; yet there the calm abode 
Of wisdom, virtue, philosophic ease, 
Of manly sense and wit, in frugal phrase 
Confin'd, and press'd into Laconic force. 
There too, by rooting thence still treacherous self, 
The Public and the Private grew the same ; 130 

The children of the nursing Public all. 
And at its table fed, for that they toil'd, 
For that they liv'd entire, and ev'n for that 
The tender mother urg'd her son to die. 
" Of softer genius, but not less intent 
To seize the palm of empire, Athens rose : 
Where, with bright marbles big and future pomp, 
Hymettus spread, amid the scented sky. 
His thymy treasures to the labouring bee. 
And to botanic hand the stores of health ; 140 

Wrapt in a soul-attenuating chme. 
Between Ilissus and Cephissus glow'd 
This hive of science, shedding sweets divine, 
Of active arts, and animated arms. 
There, passionate for me, an easy-mov'd, 
A quick, refin'd, a delicate, humane. 



GKEECE. 187 

Enlighten'd people reign'd. Oft on the brink 147 

Of rum, huiTied by the charm of speech, 

Enforcing hasty counsel immature, 

Totter'd the rash Democracy ; unpois'd, 

And by the rage deyour'd that ever tears 

A populace unequal ; part too rich. 

And part or fierce with want or abject grown. 

Solon at last, their mild restorer, rose ; 

Allay'd the tempest ; to the calm of laws 

Reduc'd the settHng whole ; and, with the weight 

Which the two senates ^ to the public lent, 

As with an anchor fix'd the driving state. 

" Nor was my forming care to these confin'd : 
For emulation through the whole I pour'd, i^>o 

Noble contention ! who should most excel 
In government well-pois'd, adjusted best 
To public weal : in countries cultur 'd high ; 
In ornamented towns, where order reigns, 
Free social life, and polish'd manners fair ; 
In exercise, and arms — arms only drawn 
For common Greece, to quell the Persian pride : 
In moral science, and in graceful arts. 
Hence, as for glory peacefully they strove, 
The prize grew greater, and the prize of all. iTC 

By contest brighten'd, hence the radiant youth 
Pour'd every beam ; by generous pride inflam'd, 
Felt every ardour burn ; their great reward 
The verdant wreath which sounding Pisa^ gave. 

" Hence flourish'd Greece : and hence a race of men, 
As gods by conscious future times ador'd ; 
In whom each virtue wore a smiling air, 

> ' Two senates : ' the Areopagus, or supreme court of judicature, which 
Solon reformed and improved ; and the Council of Four Hundred, by him in- 
stituted. — '^ ' Pisa : ' or Olympia, the city where the Olympic Games were 
celebrated. 



188 LIBERTY. 

Each science shed o'er life a friendly light, i78 

Each art was nature. Spartan valour hence, 

At the fam 'd Pass,^ firm as an isthmus stood, 

And the whole eastern ocean, waving far 

As eye could dart its vision, nobly check'd ; 

While in extended battle, at the field 

Of Marathon, my keen Athenians drove 

Before their ardent band a host of slaves. 

" Hence through the continent Ten Thousand Greeks 
Urg'd a retreat whose glory not the prime 
Of victories can reach. Desarts in vain 
Oppos'd their course ; and hostile lands, unknown, 
And deep rapacious floods, dire-bank'd with death, iso 
And mountains in whose jaws Destruction grinn'd 
Hunger and toil ; Armenian snows and storms ; 
And circling myriads still of barbarous foes. 
Greece in their view, and glory yet untouched, 
Their steady column pierced the scattering herds 
Which a whole empire pour'd, and held its way 
Triumphant, by the sage-exalted Chiefs 
Fir'd and sustain'd. Oh, light and force of mind. 
Almost almighty in severe extremes ! 
The sea at last from Colchian mountains seen, 200 

Kind-hearted transport round their captains threw 
The soldiers' fond embrace ; o'erflow'd their eyes 
With tender floods, and loos'd the general voice 
To cries resounding loud — The sea ! the sea ! 

" In Attic bounds hence heroes, sages, wits. 
Shone thick as stars, the Milky Way of Greece ! 
And though gay wit and pleasing grace was theirs, 
All the soft modes of elegance and ease ; 

' 'Famed Pass:' the Straits of Thermopylae.—* 'Sage-exalted Chief: 
Xenophon. 



GREECE. 189 

Yet was not courage less, tlie patient touch 209 

Of toiling Art, and disquisition deep. 

" Mj spirit pours a vigour through the soul, 
Th' unfetter'd thought with energy inspires, 
Inyincible in arts, in the bright field 
Of nobler Science, as in that of Arms. 
Athenians thus not less intrepid burst 
The bonds of tyrant darkness, than they spurn'd 
The Persian chains, while through the city, full 
Of mirthful quarrel and of witty war. 
Incessant struggled taste refining taste. 
And friendly free discussion, calling forth 220 

From the fair jewel Truth its latent ray. 
O'er all shone out the great Athenian Sage,^ 
And Father of Philosophy ; the sun 
From whose white blaze emerg'd,each yarious sect 
Took various tints, but with diminished beam. 
Tutor of Athens ! he, in every street, 
Dealt priceless treasure : goodness his delight, 
Wisdom his wealth, and glory his reward. 
Deep through the human heart, with playful art. 
His simple question stole, as into truth 230 

And serious deeds he smil'd the laughing race. 
Taught moral happy life, whate'er can bless 
Or grace mankind ; and what he taught he was. 
Compounded high, though plain, his doctrine broke 
In different Schools : — the bold poetic phrase 
Of figur'd Plato ; Xenophon's pure strain, 
Like the clear brook that steals along the vale ; 
Dissecting truth, the Stagyrite's keen eye ; 
Th* exalted Stoic pride ; the Cynic sneer ; 
The slow-consenting Academic doubt ; 240 

And, joining bliss to virtue, the glad ease 

* ' Athenian Sage : ' Socrates. 



190 LIBERTY. 

Of Epicunis, seldom understood. 242 

Thej, ever candid, reason still oppos 'd 

To reason ; and, since virtue was their aim, 

Each bj sure practice tried to prove his way 

The best. Then stood untouch'd the solid base 

Of Liberty, the Liberty of Mind : 

For systems yet, and soul-enslaving creeds. 

Slept with the monsters of succeeding times. 

From priestly darkness sprung th' enlightening arts 250 

Of fire, and sword, and rage, and horrid names. 

" Greece ! thou sapient nurse of Finer Arts, 
"Which to bright Science blooming Fancy bore ! 
Be this thy praise, that thou, and thou alone. 
In these hast led the way, in these excell'd, 
Crown'd with the laurel of assenting Time. 

" In thy full language, speaking mighty things ; 
Like a clear torrent close, or else diffus'd 
A broad majestic stream, and rolling on 
Through all the winding harmony of sound ; 260 

In it the power of Eloquence, at large, 
Breath' d the persuasive or pathetic soul ; 
Still'd by degrees the democratic storm, 
Or bade it threatening rise, and tyrants shook, 
Flush'd at the head of their victorious troops. 
In it the Muse, her fury never quench'd 
By mean unyielding phrase or jarring sound. 
Her unconfin'd divinity display'd. 
And, still harmonious, form'd it to her wiU ; 
Or soft depress'd it to the shepherd's moan, 270 

Or rais'd it sweUing to the tongue of gods. 

" Heroic song was thine ; the Fountain-Bard,^ 
Whence each poetic stream derives its course. 
Thine the dread moral scene, thy chief delight ! 

' ' Fountain-Bard ; ' Homer. 



GEEECE. 191 

Where idle Fancy durst not mix her voice, 275 

When Reason spoke august ; the fervent heart 

Or plain'd, or storm'd ; and in th' impassion'd man, 

Concealing art with art, the poet sunk. 

This potent school of manners — but, when left 

To loose neglect, a land-corrupting plague — 280 

Was not unworthy deem'd of public care 

And boundless cost by thee ; whose ev'ry son, 

Even last mechanic, the true taste possess'd 

Of what had flavour to the nourish'd soul. 

" The sweet enforcer of the Poet's strain, 
Thine was the meaning Music of the heart : 
Not the vain trill, that, void of passion, runs 
In giddy mazes, tickling idle ears ; 
But that deep-searching voice and artful hand 
To which respondent shakes the varied soul. 290 

" Thy fair ideas, thy delightful forms, 
By Love imagin'd, by the Graces touch'd, 
The boast of well-pleas 'd Nature, Sculpture seiz'd, 
And bade them ever smile in Parian stone. 
Selecting Beauty's choice, and that again 
Exalting, blending in a perfect whole, 
Thy workmen left ev'n Nature's self behind. 
From those far different, whose prolific hand 
Peoples a nation, they, for years on years, 
By the cool touches of judicious toil, 300 

Their rapid genius curbing, pour'd it all 
Through the live features of one breathing stone. 
There, beaming full, it shone, expressing gods, — 
Jove's awful brow, Apollo's air divine, 
The fierce atrocious frown of sinew'd Mars, 
Or the sly graces of the Cyprian Queen. 
Minutely perfect all ! each dimple sunk, 
And every muscle swell'd, as Nature taught. 



192 LIBERTY. 

In tresses, braided gaj, the marble wav'd ; 309 

Flow'd in loose robes, or tliin transparent veils 3 
Sprung into motion ; soften'd into flesb ; 
Was fir/d to passion, or refin'd to soul. 

" Nor less tlij Pencil, with creative touch. 
Shed mimic life, when all tlij brightest dames, 
Assembled, Zeuxis in his Helen mix'd. 
And when Apelles, who peculiar knew 
To give a grace that more than mortal smil'd, 
The Soul of Beauty ! call'd the Queen of Love, 
Fresh from the billows, blushing orient charms. 
Even such enchantment then thy pencil pour'd, S20 

That cruel-thoughted War th' impatient torch 
Dash'd to the ground ; and, rather than destroy 
The patriot picture, ^ let the city 'scape. 

" First elder Sculpture taught her sister art 
Correct design, where great ideas shone. 
And in the secret trace expression spoke : 
Taught her the graceful attitude ; the turn 
And beauteous airs of head ; the native act, 
Or bold or easy ; and, cast free behind. 
The swelling mantle's well-adjusted flow. 330 

Then the bright Muse, their eldest sister, came, 
And bade her follow where she led the way ; 
Bade earth, and sea, and air, in colours rise, 
And copious action on the canvas glow ; 
Gave her gay Fable ; spread Invention's store ; 
Enlarg'd her View ; taught Composition high, 
And just Arrangement, circling round one point. 
That starts to sight, binds and commands the whole. 
Caught from the heavenly Muse a nobler aim, 

* ' Patriot picture : ' when Demetrius besieged Rhodes, and could have re- 
duced the city, by setting fire to that quarter of it where stood the house of 
the celebrated Protogenes, he chose rather to raise the siege than hazard the 
burning of a famous picture called lalysus, the masterpiece of that painter. 



GREECE. 193 

And scorning the soft trade of mere dellglit, 340 

O'er all tlij temples, porticoes, and schools, 

Heroic deeds she trac'd, and warm displaj'd 

Each moral beautj to the rayish'd eye. 

There, as th' imagiu'd presence of the god 

ArousM the mind, or vacant hours indue 'd 

Calm contemplation, or assembled youth 

Burn'd in ambitious circle round the sage, 

The living lesson stole into the heart. 

With more prevailing force than dwells in words. 

These rouse to glory ; while, to rural life, 350 

The softer canvas oft repos'd the soul. 

There gaily broke the sun-ilhimin'd cloud ; 

The lessening prospect, and the mountain blue, 

Vanish'd in air ; the precipice frown'd dire ; 

White, down the rock, the rushing torrent dash'd ; 

The sun shone, trembling, o'er the distant main ; 

The tempest foam'd, immense ; the driving storm 

Sadden'd the skies ; and, from the doubling gloom 

On the scath'd oak the ragged lightning fell; 

In closing shades, and where the current strays, 360 

With Peace, and Love, and Innocence around, 

Piped the lone shepherd to his feeding flock : 

Round happy parents smil'd their younger selves ; 

And friends conversed, by death divided long. 

" To public Virtue thus the smiling Arts, 
Unblemish'd handmaids, served ; the Graces they 
To dress this fairest Venus. Thus reverb, 
And plac'd beyond the reach of sordid care, 
The high awarders of immortal fame. 
Alone for glory thy great masters strove ; 370 

Courted by kings, and by contending states 
Assum'd the boasted honour of their birth. 

" In Architecture, too, thy rank supreme ! 



194 LIBERTY. 

That art where most magnificent appears 374 

The little builder, man; by thee refin'd, 
And, smiling high, to full perfection brought. 
Such thy sure rules, that Goths of every age. 
Who scorn'd their aid, have only loaded earth 
With labour'd heavy monuments of shame ; 
Not those gay domes that o'er thy splendid shore 380 
Shot, all proportion, up. First, unadorn'd, 
And nobly plain, the manly Doric rose ; 
Th' Ionic then, with decent matron grace. 
Her airy pillar heav'd ; luxuriant, last. 
The rich Corinthian spread her wanton wreath : 
The whole so measured true, so lessen'd off 
By fine proportion, that the marble pile, 
Form'd to repel the still or stormy waste 
Of rolling ages, light as fabrics look'd 
That from the ma2;ic wand aerial rise. 390 

" These were the wonders that illumin'd Greece, 

From end to end " Here, interrupting warm, 

" Where are they now V 1 cried ; " say. Goddess, where 1 

And what the land, thy darling thus of old ? " 

" Sunk ! " she resum'd : " deep in the kindred gloom 

Of Superstition and of Slavery sunk ! 

No glory now can touch tlieir hearts, benumb'd 

By loose dejected sloth and servile fear ; 

No science pierce the darkness of their minds ; 

No nobler art the quick ambitious soul 400 

Of imitation in their breast awake. 

Ev'n, to supplj^ the needful arts of life, 

Mechanic Toil denies the hopeless hand ; 

Scarce any trace remaining, vestige grey, 

Or nodding column on the desert shore. 

To point where Corinth or where Athens stood : 

A faithless land of violence and death ; 



GREECE. 195 

Where Commerce parleys, dubious, on the shore ; 408 

And his wild impulse curious Search restrains, 

Afraid to trust th' inhospitable clime ! 

Neglected Nature fails ; in sordid want 

Sunk and debas'd, their beauty beams no more. 

The Sun himself seems, angry, to regard 

Of light unworthy the degenerate race, 

And fires them oft with pestilential rays : 

While Earth, blue poison steaming on the skies. 

Indignant, shakes them from her troubled sides. 

But as from man to man, Fate's first decree. 

Impartial Death the tide of riches rolls, 

So States must die and Liberty go round, 420 

" Fierce was the stand, ere Virtue, Valour, Arts, 
And the soul fir'd by me (that often, stung 
With thoughts of better times and old renown. 
From hydra-tyrants tried to clear the land), 
Lay quite extinct in Greece, their works efFac'd, 
And gross o'er all unfeeling bondage spread. 
Sooner I mov'd my much-reluctant flight, 
Pois'd on the doubtful wing; when Greece with Greece 
Embroil'd in foul contention fought no more 
For common glory and for common weal ; 430 

But, false to Freedom, sought to quell the free ; 
Broke the firm band of Peace and sacred Love, 
That lent the whole irrefragable force ; 
And, as around the partial trophy blush'd, 
Prepar'd the way for total overthrow. 
Then to the Persian pow'r, whose pride they scorn'd, 
When Xerxes pour'd his millions o'er the land, 
Sparta, by turns, and Athens, vilely su'd, — 
Su'd to be venal parricides, to spill 
Their country's bravest blood, and on themselves 440 
To tui'n their matchless mercenary arms. 



196 LIBERTY. 

Peaceful in Susa, then, sat tlie Great King ;^ 442 

And by the trick of treaties, the still waste 

Of sly corruption, and barbaric gold, 

Effected what his steel could ne'er perform. 

Profuse he gave them the luxurious draught, 

Inflaming all the land ; unbalanc'd wide 

Their tottering states ; their wild assemblies rul 'd, 

As the winds turn at every blast the seas ; 

And by their listed orators, whose breath 450 

Still with a factious storm infested Greece, 

Rous 'd them to civil war, or dash'd them down 

To sordid peace,^ — peace that, when Sparta shook 

Astonish'd Artaxerxes on his throne, 

Gave up, fair-spread o'er Asia's sunny shore, 

Their kindred cities to perpetual chains ! 

What could so base, so infamous a thought 

In Spartan hearts inspire '? Jealous, they saw 

Respiring Athens rear again her walls ; 

And the pale Fury fir^d them, once again 460 

To crush this rival city to the dust. 

For now no more the noble social soul 

Of Liberty my families combin'd ; 

But, by short views and selfish passions broke, 

Dire as when friends are rankled into foes. 

They mix'd severe, and wag'd eternal war : 

Nor felt they, furious, their exhausted force ; 

Nor, with false glory, discord, madness blind. 

Saw how the blackening storm from Thracia came. 

Long years roll'd on, by many a battle stain'd,^ 470 

The blush and boast of Fame ! where courage, art, 

And military glory shone supreme : — 

* ' Great King,' of Persia. — * ' Sordid peace: ' the peace made by Antalcidas, 
the Lacedemonian admiral, with the Persians ; by which the Lacedemonians 
abandoned all the Greeks established in the Lesser Asia to the dominion of the 
King of Persia. — * ' By many a battle stain'd : ' the Peloponnesian war. 



GREECE. lyy 

But let detesting ages from the scene 473 

Of Greece self-mangled turn the sick'ning eye. 

At last, when, bleeding from a thousand wounds, 

She felt her spirits fail ; and in the dust 

Her latest heroes, Nicias, Conon, laj, 

Agesilaus, and the Theban Friends :^ 

The Macedonian vulture mark'd his time, 

By the dire scent of Cheronsea^ lur'd, 4Ro 

And, fierce descending, seiz 'd his hapless prej. 

" Thus tame submitted to the victor's yoke 
Greece, once the gay, the turbulent, the bold ; 
For every grace, and Muse, and science born ; 
With arts of war, of government, elate ; 
To tyrants dreadful, dreadful to the best ; 
Whom I myself could scarcely rule : and thus 
The Persian fetters, that enthrall'd the mind. 
Were turn'd to formal and apparent chains. 

" Unless Corruption first deject the pride 490 

And guardian vigour of the free-born soul. 
All crude attempts of Violence are vain ; 
For, firm within, and while at heart untouch'd, 
Ne'er yet by Force was Freedom overcome. 
But soon as Independence stoops the head, 
To Vice enslavM, and Vice-created wants ; 
Then to some foul corrupting hand, whose waste 
These heighten'd wants with fatal bounty feeds ; 
From man to man the slack 'ning ruin runs. 
Till the whole State unnerved in Slavery sinks." soo 

' ' Thehan Friends : ' Pelopidas and Epaminondas. — * * Cheronaa : ' the 
battle of Cheronjea, in which Philip of Macedon utterly defeated the Greeks. 



PAET III. ROME. 



CONTENTS. 

Aa this Part contains a description of the estal'lisliment of Liberty in Rome, 
it begins witli a view of the Grecian colonics settled in the southern 
parts of Italy, which with Sicily constituted the Great Greece of the 
ancients. With these colonies the Spirit of Liberty and of Republics 
spreads over Italy. Transition to Pythagoras and his philosophy, which 
he taught through those free states and cities. Amidst the many small 
republics in Italy, Rome the destined seat of Liberty. Her establish- 
ment there dated from the expulsion of the Tarquins. How differing 
from that in Greece. Reference to a view of the Roman Republic given 
in the First Part of this Poem ; to mark its Rise and Fall the peculiar 
purport of this. During its first ages, the greatest force of Liberty and 
Virtue exerted. The source whence derived the Heroic Virtues of tlie 
Romans. Enumeration of these Virtues. Thence their security at home ; 
their glory, success, and empire, abroad. Bounds of the Roman Empire 
geographically described. The States of Greece restored to Liberty by 
Titus Quintius Flaminius, the highest instance of public generosity and 
beneficence. The loss of Liberty in Rome. Its causes, progress, and 
completion in the death of Brutus. Rome under tlie Emperors. From 
Rome the Goddess of Liberty goes among the Northern Nations ; where, by 
infusing into them her spirit and general principles, she lays the ground- 
work of her future establishments ; sends them in vengeance on the 
Roman Empire, now totally enslaved ; and then, with Arts and Sciences 
in her train, quits earth during the dark ages. The celestial regions, to 
which Liberty retu-ed, not proper to be opened to the view of mortals. 



Here melting mix'd with air th' ideal forms 
That painted still whate'er the Goddess sung. 
Then I, impatient : " From extinguish'd Greece, 
To what new region stream'd the human da,yV' 
She softly sighing, as when Zephyr leaves, 
Resign'd to Boreas, the declining year, 
Resum'd : " Indignant, these last scenes I fled ; 
And long ere then, Leucadia's cloudy cliff 



ROME. 199 

And the Ceraunian lulls behind me thro-wn, 9 

All Latium stood arous'd. .Ages before, 

Great mother of republics, Greece had pour'd. 

Swarm after swarm, her ardent youth around. 

On Asia, Afric, Sicilj, thej stoop'd ; 

But chief on fair Hesperia's winding shore ; 

Where, from Lacinium^ to Etrurian vales, 

They roll'd increasing colonies along, 

And lent materials for my Roman reign. 

With them my spirit spread ; and numerous states 

And cities rose, on Grecian models form'd ; 

As its parental policy and arts 20 

Each had imbibM. Besides, to each assign'd, 

A Guardian Genius, o'er the public weal 

Kept an unclosing eye ; tried to sustain. 

Or more sublime, the soul infused by me : 

And strong the battle rose, with various wave, 

Against the Tyrant Demons of the land. 

Thus they their little wars and triumphs knew, 

Their flows of fortune, and receding times ; 

But almost all below the proud regard 

Of story vow'd to Rome, on deeds intent 30 

That Truth beyond the flight of Fable bore. 

" Not so the Samian Sage ; to him belongs 
The brio-htest witness of recordino- Fame. 
For these free states his native isle^ forsook, 
And a vain tyrant's transitory smile. 
He sought Crotona's pure salubrious air, 
And through Great Greece^ his gentle wisdom taught ; 
Wisdom that calm'd for list'ning years the mind, 
Nor ever heard amid the storm of zeal. 



' ' Lacinium ; ' a promontory in Calabria. — * ' Native isle : ' Samos, under 
the tyrant Polycrates. — * ' Great Greece : ' the southern parts of Italy and 
Sicily, so called because of the Grecian colonies there settled. 



200 LIBERTY. 

His mental eje first launch'd into the deeps 40 

Of boundless ether ; where imnumber'd orbs, 

Myriads on myriads, through the pathless sky 

Unerring roll, and wind their steady way. 

There he the full consenting choir beheld ; 

There first discern'd the secret band of love, 

The kind attraction, that to central suns 

Binds circling earths, and world with world unites. 

Instructed thence, he great ideas form'd 

Of the whole-moving, all-informing God, 

The Sun of beings ! beaming unconfin' d so 

Light, life, and love, and ever-active pow'r ; 

"Whom naught can image, and who best approves 

The silent worship of the moral heart, 

That joys in bounteous Heaven, and spreads the joy. 

Nor scorn'd the soaring sage to stoop to life. 

And bound his reason to the sphere of Man. 

He gave the four yet reigning virtues name ; 

InspirM the study of the finer arts, 

That civilize mankind, and laws devis'd 

Where with enlighten'd justice mercy mix'd. co 

He even into his tender system took 

Whatever shares the brotherhood of life : 

He taught that life's indissoluble flame. 

From brute to man, and man to brute again, 

For ever shifting, runs th' eternal round; 

Thence tried against the blood-polluted meal, 

And limbs yet quivering with some kindred soul, 

To turn the human heart. Delightful truth, 

Had he beheld the living chain ascend. 

And not a circling form, but rising whole ! 70 

" Amid these small republics one arose. 
On yellow Tiber's bank, — almighty Rome, 
Fated for me. A nobler spirit warm'd 



ROME. 201 

Her sons ; and, rous'd by tyrants, nobler still 74 

It burn'd in Brutus ; the proud Tarquins chas^'d, 
With all their crimes ; bade radiant eras rise, 
And the long honours of the Consul-line. 

" Here from the fairer, not the greater, plan 
Of Greece I varied ; whose unmixing states, 
By the keen soul of emulation pierc'd, so 

Long wagM alone the bloodless war of arts. 
And their best empire gain'd. But to diffuse 
O'er Men an empire was my purpose now : 
To let my martial majesty abroad ; 
Into the Yortex of one state to draw 
The whole mix'd force, and Liberty, on earth ; 
To conquer Tyrants, and set Nations free. 

" Already have I given, with flying touch, 
A broken view of this my amplest reign. 
Now, while its first, last periods you survey, 90 

Mark how it labouring rose, and rapid fell. 

" When Rome in noon-tide empire grasp'd the world, 
And, soon as her resistless legions shone. 
The nations stoop'd around ; though then appear'd 
Her grandeur most, yet in her dawn of pow'r, 
By many a jealous equal people press'd, 
Then was the toil, the mighty struggle then ; 
Then for each Roman I a Hero told ; 
And every passing sun, and Latian scene, 
Saw patriot virtues then, and awful deeds, lOo 

That or surpass the faith of modern times, 
Or, if believed, with sacred horror strike. 

" For then, to prove my most exalted power, 
I to the point of full perfection push'd, 
To fondness and enthusiastic zeal, 
The great, the reigning passion of the free : 
That godlike passion ! which, the bounds of self 



202 LIBERTY. 

Divinely bursting, the wliole public takes io8 

Into the heart, enlarged, and burning high 
With the mix'd ardour of unnumber'd selves ; 
Of all who safe beneath the Voted Laws 
Of the same parent state, fraternal, live. 

" From this kind Sun of Moral Nature flow'd 
Virtues that shine the light of human-kind, 
And, ray'd through story, warm remotest time. 
These virtues, too, reflected to their source, 
Increased its flame. The social charm went round, 
The fair idea, more attractive still. 
As more by Virtue mark'd ; till Romans, all 
One band of friends, unconquerable grew. 120 

" Hence, when their Country rais'd her plaintive voice, 
The voice of pleading Nature was not heard ; 
And in their hearts the Fathers throbb'd no more : 
Stern to themselves, but gentle to the whole. 
Hence sweeten'd Pain, the luxury of toil ; 
Patience, that bafiled Fortune's utmost rage ; 
High-minded Hope, which at the lowest ebb, 
When Brennus conquer'd, and when Cannae bled, 
The bravest impulse felt, and scorn'd despair. 
Hence Moderation a new conquest gain'd ; 130 

As on the vanquish'd, like descending Heaven, 
Their dewy mercy dropp'd, their bounty beam'd, 
And by the labouring hand were crowns bestow'd. 
Fruitful of men, hence hard laborious life. 
Which no fatigue can quell, no season pierce. 
Hence Independence, with his little pleas 'd. 
Serene and self-sufficient, like a god ; 
In whom Corruption could not lodge one charm, 
While he his honest roots to gold preferr'd ; 
While, truly rich, and by his Sabine field ]4o 

The man maintain'd, the Roman's splendour all 



ROME. , 203 

Was in the public wealth and glory placed : 142 

Or ready, a rough swain, to guide the plough ; 

Or else, the purple o'er his shoulder thrown 

In long majestic flow, to rule the state, 

With Wisdom's purest eye ; or, clad in steel, 

To drive the steady battle on the foe. 

Hence every passion, ev'n the proudest, stoop'd 

To common-good : Camillas, thy revenge ; 

Thy glory, Fabius. All-submissive hence, iso 

Consuls, Dictators, still resigned their rule 

The very moment that the laws ordain'd. 

Though Conquest o'er them clapp'd her eagle wings, 

Her laurels wreath M, and yok'd her snowy steeds 

To the triumphal car ; soon as expir'd 

The latest hour of sway, taught to submit 

(A harder lesson that than to command), 

Into the private Roman sunk the chief 

If Rome was serv'd and glorious, careless they 

By whom. Their Country's fame they deem'd their own ; 

And, above envy, in a rival's train 16I 

Sung the loud los by themselves deserv'd. 

Hence matchless courage. On Cremera's bank, 

Hence fell the Fabii ; hence the Decii died ; 

And Curtius pluiig'd into the flaming gulf 

Hence Regulus the wav'ring Fathers firm'd, 

By dreadful counsel never given before ; 

For Roman honour su'd, and his own doom. 

Hence he sustain'd to dare a death prepar'd 

By Punic rage. On earth his manly look 170 

Relentless fix'd, he from a last embrace. 

By chains polluted, put his wife aside, 

His little children climbino; for a kiss : 

Then dumb, through rows of weeping, wond'ring friends, 

A new illustrious exile ! press'd along. 



204 LIBEETY. 

Nor less impatient did he pierce the crowds 176 

Opposing his return, than if, escaped 

From long litigious suits, he glad forsook 

The noisy town a while and city cloud, 

To breathe Venafrian or Tarentine air. 

Need I these high particulars recount ? 

The meanest bosom felt a thirst for fame ; 

Flight their worst death, and shame their only fear ; 

Life had no charms, nor any terrors Fate, 

When Rome and Glory call'd. But, in one view, 

Mark the rare boast of these unequall'd times. 

Ages revolv'd unsullied by a crime : 

Astrsea reign'd, and scarcely needed laws 

To bind a race elated with the pride 

Of virtue, and disdaining to descend 190 

To meanness, mutual violence, and wrongs. 

While war around them rag'd, in happy Rome 

All peaceful smil'd ; all, save the passing clouds 

That often hang on Freedom's jealous brow ; 

And fair unblemish'd centuries elaps'd. 

When not a Roman bled but in the field. 

Their virtue such, that an unbalanc'd state. 

Still between Noble and Plebeian toss'd, 

As flow'd the wave of fluctuating power, 

Was then kept firm, and with triumphant prow 200 

Rode out the storms. Oft though the native feuds. 

That from the first their constitution shook 

(A latent ruin, growing as it grew). 

Stood on the threatening point of civil war 

Ready to rush : yet could the lenient voice 

Of Wisdom, soothing the tumultuous soul. 

Those sons of Virtue calm. Their generous hearts, 

Unpetrified by Self, so naked lay 

And sensible to Truth, that o'er the rage 



ROME. 205 

Of giddj faction, bj oppression swell'd, 2io 

Prevail'd a simple fable,^ and at once 

To peace recover'd the divided state. 

But if their often-cheated hopes refus'd 

The soothing touch, still, in the love of Rome, 

The dread Dictator found a sure resource. 

Was she assaulted 1 was her glory stain'd ? 

One common quarrel wide inflam'd the whole. 

Foes in the forum, in the field were friends, 

By social danger bound ; each fond for each, 

And for their dearest country all, to die. 220 

" Thus up the hill of empire slow they toil'd : 
Till, the bold summit gain'd, the thousand states 
Of proud Italia blended into one : 
Then o'er the nations they resistless rush'd. 
And touch'd the limits of the failing world. 

" Let Fancy's eye the distant Imes unite. 
See that which borders wild the w^estern main, 
Where storms at large resound, and tides immense : 
From Caledonia's dim cerulean coast, 
And moist Hibernia, to where Atlas, lodg'd 230 

Amid the restless clouds and leaning heaven. 
Hangs o'er the deep that borrows thence its name. 
Mark that oppos'd, where first the springing Morn 
Her roses sheds, and shakes around her dews : 
From the dire desarts by the Caspian lav'd, 
To where the Tigris and Euphrates, join'd. 
Impetuous tear the Babylonian plain, 
And Blest Arabia aromatic breathes. 
See that dividing far the watery North, 
Parent of floods ! from the majestic Rhine, 240 

Drunk by Batavian meads, to where, seven-mouth'd. 
In Euxine waves the flashing Danube roars ; 

» ' Simple fable : ' that of the belly and the members. 



^06 LIBERTY. 

To where the frozen Tanais scarcely stirs 248 

The dead Mseotic pool, or the long Rha^ 

In the black Scythian Sea^ his torrent throws. 

Last, that beneath the burning zone behold. 

See where it runs, from the deep-loaded plains 

Of Mauritania to the Lybian sands, 

Where Ammon lifts amid the torrid waste 

A Yerdant isle, with shade and fountain fresh : 260 

And farther, to the full Egyptian shore. 

To where the Nile from Ethiopian clouds, 

His never-drain'd ethereal urn, descends. 

In this vast space what various tongues and states ! 

What bounding rocks and mountains, floods and seas ! 

What purple tyrants quell'd, and nations freed ! 

" O'er Greece descended chief, with stealth divine, 
The Roman bounty in a flood of day ; 
As at her Isthmian games, a fading pomp ! 
Her full-assembled youth innumerous swarm'd. 260 

On a tribunal rais ^d Flaminius sat ; 
A victor he, from the deep phalanx piercM 
Of iron-coated Macedon, and back 
The Grecian tyrant^ to his bounds repell'd. 
In the high thoughtless gaiety of game, 
While sport alone their unambitious hearts 
Possess'd, the sudden trumpet, sounding hoarse, 
Bade silence o'er the bright assembly reign. 
Then thus a herald : ' To the states of Greece 
The Roman People, unconfin'd, restore 270 

Their countries, cities, liberties, and laws : 
Taxes remit, and garrisons withdraw/ 
The crowd, astonish'd half, and half inform'd, 
Star'd dubious round ; some question'd, some exclaimVl 

* 'Rha: ' the ancient name of the Volga. — * ' Scythian Sea: ' the Caspian. 
— ' ' Grecian tyrant: ' the King of Macedonia. 



ROME. 207 

(Like one who, dreaming, between hope and fear, 275 

Is lost in anxious joy), ' Be that again, 

Be that again proclaim'd, distinct and loud!* 

Loud and distinct it was again proclaim'd ; 

And, still as midnight in the rural shade. 

When the gale slumbers, thej the words devour'd. 280 

A while severe Amazement held them mute. 

Then, bursting broad, the boundless shout to heaven 

From many a thousand hearts ecstatic sprung. 

On every hand rebellow'd to their joy 

The swelling sea, the rocks, and vocal hills : 

Through all her turrets stately Corinth ^ shook ; 

And, from the void above of shatter'd air. 

The flitting bird fell breathless to the ground. 

What piercing bliss ! how keen a sense of fame 

Did then, Flaminius, reach thy inmost soul ! 290 

And with what deep-felt glory didst thou then 

Escape the fondness of transported Greece ! 

Mix'd in a tempest of superior joy. 

They left the sports ; like Bacchanals, they flew, 

Each other straining in a strict embrace, 

Nor strain'd a slave ; and loud acclaims till night 

Round the Proconsul's tent repeated rung. 

Then, crown'd with garlands, came the festive hours ; 

And music, sparkling wine, and converse warm, 

Their raptures wak'd anew. ' Ye gods !' they cried, 

' Ye guardian gods of Greece ! and are we free 1 301 

Was it not madness deem'd the very thought ? 

And is it true 1 How did we purchase chains ! 

At what a dire expense of kindred blood ! 

And are they now dissolv'd^ and scarce one drop 

For the fair first of blessings have we paid 1 

Courage and conduct in the doubtful field, 

• ' Corinth : ' the Isthmian games were celebrated at Corinth. 



208 LIBERTY. 

When rages wide tlic storm of mingling war, 308 

Are rare indeed ; but how to generous ends 
To turn success and conquest, rarer still : 
That the great gods and Romans only know. 
Lives there on earth, almost to Greece unknown, 
A people so magnanimous, to quit 
Their native soil, traverse the stormy deep, 
And bj their blood and treasure, spent for us, 
Redeem our states, our liberties, and laws % 
There does I there does ! Saviour Titus I Rome !' 
Thus through the happy night they pour'd their souls. 
And in my last-reflected beams rejoic'd. 
As when the shepherd, on the mountain-brow, 320 

Sits piping to his flocks and gamesome kids ; 
Meantime the sun, beneath the green earth sunk, 
Slants upward o'er the scene a parting gleam : 
Short is the glory that the mountain gilds, 
Plays on the glitt'riug flocks, and glads the swain ; 
To western worlds irrevocable roll'd. 
Rapid, the source of light recalls his ray." 
Here interposing I : " Queen of Men, 
Beneath whose sceptre in essential rights 
Equal they live ; though plac 'd, for common good, 83o 
Various, or in subjection or command ; 
And that by common choice : alas ! the scene, 
With virtue, freedom, and with glory bright. 
Streams into blood, and darkens into woe." 
Thus she pursu'd : " Near this great era, Rome 
Began to feel the swift approach of Fate, 
That now her vitals gain'd ; still more and more 
Her deep divisions kindling into rage. 
And war with chains and desolation charg 'd. 
From an unequal balance of her sons S4o 

These fierce contentions sprung ; and, as increas'd 



EOME. 209 

This hated inequality, more fierce 342 

They flam'd to tumult. Independence fail'd, 

Here bj luxurious wants, by real there ; 

And with this virtue, ev'ry virtue sunk, 

As, with the sliding rock, the pile sustain'd. 

A last attempt, too late, the Gracchi made, 

To fix the flying scale, and poise the state. 

On one side swell'd Aristocratic Pride ; 

With Usury, the villain ! whose fell gripe 350 

Bends by degrees to baseness the free soul ; 

And Luxury, rapacious, cruel, mean. 

Mother of vice ! while on the other crept 

A populace in want, with pleasure fir'd ; 

Fit for proscriptions, for the darkest deeds, 

As the proud feeder bade ; inconstant, blind, 

Deserting friends at need, and dup'd by foes ; 

Loud and seditious, when a chief inspir'd 

Their headlong fury, but, of him depriv'd, 

Already slaves that lick'd the scourging hand. 360 

" This firm Republic, that against the blast 
Of Opposition rose ; that (like an oak, 
Nurs'd on ferocious Algidum, whose boughs 
Still stronger shoot beneath the rigid axe), 
By loss, by slaughter, from the steel itself, 
Ev'n force and spirit drew ; smit with the calm. 
The dead serene of prosp'rous fortune, pin'd. 
Naught now her weighty legions could oppose : 
Her terror^ once, on Afric's tawny shore. 
Now smok'd in dust, a stabling now for wolves ; 370 
And every dreaded power received the yoke. 
Besides, destructive, from the conquer'd East, 
In the soft plunder came that worst of plagues 

> ' Her terror : ' Carthage. 
O 



210 LIBERTY. 

That pestilence of mind, a fever'd thirst 874 

For the false jojs which Luxury prepares. 
Unworthy joys ! that wasteful leave behind 
No mark of honour, in reflecting hour, 
No secret ray, to glad the conscious soul ; 
At once involving in one ruin wealth 
And wealth-acquiring powers; while stupid Self, sso 
Of narrow gust, and hebetating Sense 
Devour the nobler faculties of bliss. 
Hence Roman virtue slacken'd into sloth ; 
Security relax'd the softening state ; 
And the broad eye of Government lay clos'd. 
No more the laws inviolable reign'd, 
And public weal no more : but party rag 'd ; 
And partial pow'r, and licence unrestrain'd, 
Let Discord through the deathful city loose. 
First, mild Tiberius,^ on thy sacred head 390 

The Fury's vengeance fell ; the first whose blood 
Had, since the consuls, stain'd contending Rome : 
Of precedent pernicious ! With thee bled 
Three hundred Romans ; with thy brother, next, 
Three thousand more ; till, into battles turn'd 
Debates of peace, and forc'd the trembling laws, 
The Forum and Comitia horrid grew, 
A scene of barter'd power or reeking gore. 
When, half-asham'd. Corruption's thievish arts, 
And ruffian Force, begin to sap the mounds ioo 

And majesty of laws ; if not in time 
Repress'd severe, for human aid too strong 
The torrent turns, and overbears the whole. 
" Thus Luxury, Dissension, a mix'd rage 
Of boundless Pleasure and of boundless Wealth, 

' ' Tiberius : ' Tib. Gracchus. 



ROME. 211 

Want "wisTiIng Change, and Waste repairing War, aoq 

Rapine for ever lost to peaceful Toil, 

Guilt unaton'd, profuse of blood Revenge, 

Corruption all-avow'd, and lawless Force, 

Each heightening each, alternate shook the state. 

Meantime Ambition, at the dazzling head 

Of hardj legions, with the laiu'els heap'd 

And spoil of nations, in one circling blast 

Combin'd in various storm, and from its base 

The broad Republic tore. Bj Virtue built. 

It touch'd the skies, and spread o'er shelter'd earth 

An ample roof : by Virtue too sustain'd, 

And balanc'd steady, ev'rj tempest sung 

Innoxious by, or bade it firmer stand. 

But when, with sudden and enormous change, 420 

The First of Mankind sunk into the Last, 

As once in virtue, so in vice, extreme. 

This universal fabric yielded loose. 

Before Ambition still ; and, thund'ring down 

At last, beneath its ruins crush'd a world. 

A conquering people to themselves a prey 

Must ever fall, when their victorious troops, 

In blood and rapine savage grown, can find 

No land to sack and pillage but their own. 

" By brutal Marius and keen Sylla first 430 

Effus'd the deluge dire of civil blood, 
Unceasing woes began ; and this, or that. 
Deep-drenching their revenge, nor virtue spar'd, 
Nor sex, nor age, nor quality, nor name ; 
Till Rome, into a human shambles turn'd. 
Made desarts lovely. — Oh, to well-earn'd chains 
Devoted race ! — If no true Roman then, 
No Scsevola, there was, to raise for me 



212 LIBERTY. 

A vengeful hand ; was tliere no father, robb'd 439 

Of blooming youth to prop his wither'd age ? 

No son, a witness to his hoarj sire 

In dust and gore defil'd 1 no friend forlorn 1 

No wretch that doubtful trembled for himself ? 

None brave or wild, to pierce a monster's heart, 

Who, heaping horror round, no more deserv'd 

The sacred shelter of the laws he spurn'd 1 

No : sad o'er all profound Dejection sat, 

And nerveless Fear. The slave's asylum theirs : 

Or flight, ill-judging, that the timid back 

Turns weak to slaughter ; or partaken guilt. 450 

In vain from Sylla's vanity I drew 

An unexampled deed. The pow'r resign'd. 

And, all unhop'd, the commonwealth restor'd, 

Amaz'd the public, and effac'd his crimes. 

Through streets yet streaming from his murd'rous hand 

Unarm'd he stray'd, unguarded, unassail'd ; 

And on the bed of peace his ashes laid : 

A grace which I to his demission gave. 

But with him died not the despotic soul. 

Ambition saw that stooping Rome could bear 460 

A Master, nor had virtue to he free. 

Hence, for succeeding years, my troubled reign 

No certain peace, no spreading prospect, knew. 

Destruction gather'd round. Still the black soul 

Or of a Catiline or Rullus^ swell'd 

With fell designs ; and all the watchful art 

Of Cicero demanded, all the force. 

All the state-wielding magic of his tongue, 

* ' Rullus : ' Pub. Servilius Eullus, tribune of the people, proposed an agra- 
rian law, in appearance very advantageous for the people, but destructive of 
their liberty ; and which was defeated by the eloquence of Cicero. 



HOME. 213 

And all the thunder of mj Cato's zeal. 469 

With these I linger'd ; till the flame anew 

Burst out in blaze immense, and wrapp'd the world. 

The shameful contest sprung, to 'whom mankind 

Should yield the neck : to Pompej, who conceal'd 

A rage impatient of an equal name ; 

Or to the nobler Caesar, on whose brow 

O'er daring Vice deluding Virtue smil'd, 

And who no less a vain superior scorn'd. 

Both bled, but bled in vain. New traitors rose. 

The venal will he bought, the base have lords. 

To these vile wars I left ambitious slaves ; ^so 

And from Philippi's field, from where in dust 

The last of Romans, matchless Brutus, lay, 

Spread to the North untam'd a rapid wing. 

" What though the first smooth Ceesar's arts caress'd, 
Merit, and virtue, simulating me \ 
Severely tender ! cruelly humane ! 
The chain to clinch, and make it softer sit 
On the new-broken, still ferocious, state. 
From the dark third,^ succeeding, I beheld 
Th' imperial monsters all, — a race on earth 490 

Vindictive sent, the scourge of human-kind ! 
Whose blind profusion drain'd a bankrupt world ; 
Whose lust to forming Nature seems disgrace ; 
And whose infernal rage bade every drop 
Of ancient blood, that yet retain'd my flame. 
To that of Psetus,^ in the peacefid bath, 
Or Rome's afirighted streets, inglorious flow. 
But almost just the meanly-patient death 
That waits a tyrant's unprevented stroke. 
Titus indeed gave one short evening gleam ; 

' ' Third : ' Tiberius. — * ' Paetus : ' Thrasea Paetus, put to death by Nero. 



214 LIBERTY. 

More cordial felt, as in the midst it spread soi 

Of storm and horror. The delight of men. 

He who the day, when his o'erflowing hand 

Had made no happy heart, concluded lost ! 

Trajan and he, with the mild Sire and Son,^ 

His son of virtue ! eas'd a while mankind ; 

And Arts reyiv'd beneath their gentle beam. 

Then was their last effort : what Sculpture rais'd 

To Trajan's glorj, following triumphs stole. 

And mix'd with Gothic forms (the chisel's shame), sio 

On that triumphal Arch,2the forms of Greece. 

" Meantime o'er rocky Thrace, and the deep vales 
Of gelid Hsemus, I pursu'd my flight ; 
And, piercing farthest Scythia, westward swept 
Sarmatia,^ travers'd by a thousand streams. 
A sullen land of lakes, and fens immense, 
Of rocks, resounding torrents, gloomy heaths, 
And cruel desarts, black with sounding pine ; 
Where Nature frowns ; though sometimes into smiles 
She softens, and, immediate, at the touch 520 

Of southern gales, throws from the sudden glebe 
Luxuriant pasture and a waste of flowers. 
But, cold-compress'd, when the whole loaded heav'n 
Descends in snow, lost in one white abrupt. 
Lies undistinguish'd earth ; and, seiz'd by frost, 
Lakes, headlong streams, and floods, and oceans sleep. 
Yet there life glows ; the furry millions there 
Deep dig their dens beneath the shelf ring snows : 
And there a race of men prolific swarms, 

' ' Mild Sire and Son : ' Antoninus Pius, and his adopted son Marcus Aure- 
lius, afterwards called Antoninus Philosophus. — * ' Triujnphal arch : ' Constan- 
tine's arch, to build which, that of Trajan was destroyed ; sculpture having 
been then almost entirely lost. — ' ' Sarmatia : ' the ancient Sarmatia contained 
a vast tract of countiy running all along the north of Europe and Asia. 



ROME. 215 

To various pain, to little pleasure, us'd ; 530 

On whom, keen-parching, beat Riphaean winds ; 
Hard like their soil, and like their climate fierce, — • 
The nursery of nations! These I rous'd. 
Drove land on laud, on people people pour'd ; 
Till from almost perpetual night they broke, 
As if in search of day ; and o'er the banks 
Of yielding empire, only slave-sustain'd, 
Resistless rag'd, in vengeance urg^d by me. 

" Long in the barbarous heart the buiied seeds 
Of freedom lay, for many a wintry age ; 540 

And though my spirit work'd, by slow degrees, 
Naught but its pride and fierceness yet appear'd. 
Then was the night of time, that parted worlds. 
I quitted earth the while. As when the tribes 
Aerial, warn'd of rising Winter, ride 
Autumnal winds, to warmer climates borne ; 
So, Arts and each good Genius in my train, 
I cut the closing gloom, and soar'd to heaven. 

" In the bright regions there of purest day, 
Far other scenes and palaces arise, ^so 

Adorn'd profuse with other arts divine. 
AU beauty here below, to them compar' d. 
Would, like a rose before the mid-day Sun, 
Shrink up its blossom ; like a bubble, break 
The passing poor magnificence of kings. 
For there the King of Nature, in full blaze, 
Calls every splendour forth ; and there his couii; 
Amid ethereal powers and virtues holds, — 
Angel, archangel, tutelary gods 

Of cities, nations, empires, and of worlds. 560 

But sacred be the veil that kindly clouds 
A light too keen for mortals ; wraps a view 



216 



LIBEKTY. 



Too softening fair for those that here in dust 
Must cheerful toil out their appointed years ! 
A sense of higher life would only damp 
The school boy's task, and spoil his playful hours. 
Nor could the child of Reason, feeble Man, 
With vigour through this infant being drudge, 
Did brighter worlds, their unimagin'd bliss 
Disclosing, dazzle and dissolve his mind." 



563 





PAETIY. BRITAIN. 

CONTENTS. 

Difference betwixt the Ancients and Moderns slightly touched upon. Descrip- 
tion of the Dark Ages. The Goddess of Liberty, who during these is sup- 
posed to have left earth, returns, attended with Arts and Science. She 
first descends on Italy. Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture fix at 
Rome, to revive their several arts by the great models of antiquity there, 
which many barbarous invasions had not been able to destroy. The 
revival of these arts marked out. That sometimes arts may flourish for 
a while under despotic governments, though never the natural and genuine 
production of them. Learning begins to dawn. The Muse and Science 
attend Liberty, who in her progress towards Great Britain raises several 
free states and cities. These enumerated. Author's exclamation of joy 
upon seeing the British seas and coasts rise in the Vision, which painted 
whatever the Goddess of Liberty said. She resumes her narration. The 
Genius of the Deep appears, and, addressing Liberty, associates Great 
Britain into his dominion. Liberty received and congratulated by Britan- 
nia and the Native Genii or Virtues of the Island. These described. 
Animated by the presence of Liberty, they begin their operations. Their 
beneficent influence contrasted with the works and delusions of opposing 
Demons. Concludes with an abstract of the English history, marking the 
several advances of Liberty, down to her complete establishment at the 
Kevolution. 

Struck with the rising scene, thus I, amaz'd : 

" Ah, Goddess, -what a change ! Is earth the same 'i 

Of the same kind the ruthless race she feeds ? 

And does the same fair sun and ether spread 

Round this vile spot their all-enlivening soul ? 

Lo ! Beauty fails ; lost in unlovely forms 

Of little pomp, Magnificence no more 

Exalts the mind, and bids the public smile : 

While to rapacious Interest Glory leaves 

Mankind, and every grace of life is gone." lo 



218 LIBERTY. 

To this tlie Power, whose vital radiance calls ii 

From the brute mass of man an order'd world : 

" Wait till the morning shines, and from the depth 
Of Gothic darkness springs another daj. 
True, Genius droops ; the tender ancient taste 
Of Beauty, then fresh-blooming in her prime, 
But faintly trembles through the callous soul ; 
And Grandeur, or of morals, or of life. 
Sinks into safe pursuits and creeping cares. 
Ev' n cautious Virtue seems to stoop her flight, 20 

And Aged Life to deem the generous deeds 
Of Youth romantic. Yet in cooler thought 
Well-reason'd, in researches piercing deep 
Through Nature's works, in profitable arts, 
And all that calm Experience can disclose 
(Slow guide, but sure), behold the world anew 
Exalted rise, with other honours crown'd ; 
And, where my spirit wakes the finer pow' rs, 
Athenian laurels still afresh shall bloom. 

" Oblivious ages pass'd ; while Earth, forsook 30 

By her best Genii, lay, to Demons foul, 
And unchain'd Furies, an abandon'd prey. 
Contention led the van ; first small of size, 
But soon dilating to the skies she tow'rs : 
Then, wide as air, the livid Fury spread, 
And, high her head above the stormy clouds, 
She blaz'd in omens, sweU'd the groaning winds 
With wild surmises, battlings, sounds of war : 
From land to land the madd'ning trumpet blew, 
And pour'd her venom through the heart of man. 4o 
Shook to the Pole, the North obey'd her call. 
Forth rush'd the bloody Pow'r of Gothic War, 
War against human-kind : Rapine, that led 
Millions of raging robbers in his train, 



BRITAIN. 219 

Unlist'ning, barbarous Force, to whom tlie sword 45 

Is reason, honour, law : the Foe of Arts, 

By monsters folio w'd, hideous to behold. 

That claim'd their place. Outrages mix'd with these 

Another species of tyrannic rule, ^ 

Unknown before, whose cankerous shackles seiz'd so 

Th' enyenom'd soul : a wilder Fury, she 

Ev'n o'er her Elder Sister ^ tyrannized : 

Or, if perchance agreed, inflamed her rage. 

Dire was her train, and loud : — the sable band, 

Thund'ring, ' Submit, ye laity ! ye profane ! 

Earth is the Lord's, and therefore ours ; let kings 

Allow the common claim, and half be theirs ; 

If not, behold ! the sacred lightning flies :' 

Scholastic Discord, with an hundred tongues. 

For science uttering jangling words obscure, 60 

Where frighted Reason never yet could dwell : 

Of peremptory feature. Cleric Pride, 

Whose reddening cheek no contradiction bears ; 

And Holy Slander, his associate firm. 

On whom the Lying Spirit still descends : 

Mother of tortures. Persecuting Zeal, 

High-flashing in her hand the ready torch, 

Or poniard batli'd in uubelieying blood ! 

Hell's fiercest fiend ! of saintly brow demure. 

Assuming a celestial seraph's name, 7o 

While she, beneath the blasphemous pretence 

Of pleasing Parent Heaven, the Source of Love, 

Has wrought more horrors, more detested deeds. 

Than all the rest combin'd. Led on by her, 

And wild of head to work her fell designs. 

Came idiot Superstition ; round with ears 

' ' Tyrannic rule : ' church p6wer, or ecclesiastical tyranny. — ■= ' Elder Sis- 
ter : ' civil tyranny. 



220 LIBERTY. 

Innumerous strew'd, ten tliousand monkisli forms 77 

With legends plied them, and with tenets, meant 

To charm or scare the simple into slaves. 

And poison Reason : gross, she swallows all ; 

The most absurd believing ever most. 

Broad o'er the whole, her universal night. 

The gloom still doubling, Ignorance diffus 'd. 

" Naught to be seen but visionary monks 
To councils strolling, and embroiling creeds ; 
Banditti saints,^ disturbing distant lands ; 
And unknown nations, wandering for a home. 
All lay revers 'd : the sacred arts of rule 
Turn'd to flagitious leagues against mankind, 
And arts of plunder more and more avow'd ; »o. 

Pure plain Devotion to a solemn farce ; 
To holy dotage Virtue, even to guile, 
To murder, and a mockery of oaths ; 
Brave ancient Freedom to the rage of slaves, 
Proud of their state, and fighting for their chains ; 
Dishonour'd Courage to the bravo's trade, 
To civil broil ; and Glory to romance. 
Thus human life, unhing'd, to ruin reel'd, 
And giddy Reason totter'd on her throne. 

" At last Heaven's best inexplicable scheme, loo 

Disclosing, bade new brightening eras smile. 
The high command gone forth, Arts in my train, 
And azure-mantled Science, swift we spread 
A sounding pinion. Eager Pity, mix'd 
With indignation, urg'd her downward flight. 
On Latium first we stoop'd, for doubtful life 
That panted, sunk beneath unnumber'd woes. 
Ah, poor Italia ! what a bitter cup 
Of vengeance hast thou drained ! Goths, Vandals, Huns, 

• ' Banditti saints : ' Crusaders. 



BRITAIN. 221 

Lombards, barbarians broke from ev'rj land, — no 

How many a ruffian form hast thou beheld ! 

What horrid jargons heard, where rage alone 

Was all thy frighted ear could comprehend ! 

How frequent by the red inhuman hand, 

Yet warm with brother's, husband's, father's blood, 

Hast thou thy matrons and thy virgins seen 

To violation dragg'd, and mingled death ! 

What conflagrations, earthquakes, ravage, floods. 

Have turn'd thy cities into stony wilds ; 

And, succourless and bare, the poor remains 120 

Of wretches forth to Nature's common cast ! 

Added to these, the still continu'd waste 

Of inbred foes, ^ that on thy vitals prey, 

x\nd, double tyrants, seize the very soul. 

Where hadst thou treasures for this rapine all, 

These hungry myriads, that thy bowels tore, 

Heap'd sack on sack, and buried in their rage 

Wonders of art '? whence this grey scene a mine 

Of more than gold becomes and orient gems, 

Where Egypt, Greece, and Rome united glow. i30 

" Here Sculpture, Painting, Architecture, bent 
From ancient models to restore their arts, 
Remain'd. A little trace we how they rose. 

" Amid the hoary ruins. Sculpture first, 
Deep-digging, from the cavern dark and damp. 
Their grave for ages, bid her marble race 
Spring to new light. Joy sparkled in her eyes, 
And old remembrance thrill'd in every thought, 
As she the pleasing resuiTcction saw. 
In leaning site, respiring from his toils, 1^0 

The well-known Hero^ who deliver'd Greece, 
His ample chest, all tempested with force, 

' ' Inbred foes : ' the hierarchy. — ' ' Hero : ' the Hercules of j;'arnese. 



222 LIBERTY. 

Unconquerable rear'd. She saw tlie head, i4g 

Breathing the hero, small, of Grecian size. 

Scarce more extensive than the sinewy neck ; 

The spreading shoulders, muscular and broad ; 

The whole a mass of swelling sinews, touch'd 

Into harmonious shape ; she saw, and joj'd. 

The yellow hunter, Meleager, rais'd 

His beauteous front, and through the finish'd whole i-'>o 

Shows what ideas smil'd of old in Greece. 

Of raging aspect, rush'd impetuous forth 

The Gladiator. 1 Pitiless his look. 

And each keen sinew brac'd, the storm of war. 

Ruffling, o'er all his nervous body frowns. 

The Dying other^ from the gloom she drew : 

Supported on his shorten'd arm he leans. 

Prone, agonizing ; with incumbent fate 

Heavy declines his head ; yet dark beneath 

The suffering feature sullen vengeance lours, i60 

Shame, indignation, unaccomplish'd rage : 

And still the cheated eye expects his faU. 

All conquest-flush'd, from prostrate Python, came 

The Quiver'd God.^ In graceful act he stands. 

His arm extended with the slacken'd bow. 

Light flows his easy robe, and fair displays 

A manly-soften'd form. The bloom of gods 

Seems youthful o'er the beardless cheek to wave : 

His features yet heroic ardour warms ; 

And sweet subsiding to a native smile, 370 

Mix'd with the joy elating conquest gives, 

A scatter'd frown exalts his matchless air. 

On Flora mov 'd ; her full-proportion'd limbs 

Rise through the mantle fluttering in the breeze. 

• ' Gladiator : ' the Fighting Gladiator. — « ' Dying Other : ' the Dying 
Gladiator. — » ' Quiver'd God : ' the Apollo of Belvidere. 



BRITAIN. ' 223 

The Queen of LoYe^ arose, as from the deep 175 

She sprung in all the melting pomp of charms. 

Bashful she bends, her well-taught look aside 

Turns in enchanting guise, where dubious mix 

Vain conscious beauty, a dissembled sense 

Of modest shame, and slippery looks of love. iso 

The gazer grows enamour'd ; and the stone. 

As if exulting in its conquest, smiles. 

So turn'd each limb, so swell'd with softening art 

That the deluded eye the marble doubts. 

At last her utmost Masterpiece^ she found, 

That Maro^ fir'd, — the miserable sire, 

Wrapp'd with his sons in Fate's severest grasp. 

The serpents, twisting round, their stringent folds 

Inextricable tie. Such passion here, 

Such agonies, such bitterness of pain, 190 

Seem so to tremble through the tortur'd stone, 

That the touch'd heart engrosses all the view. 

Almost unmark'd the best proportions pass 

That ever Greece beheld ; and, seen alone, 

On the rapt eye th' imperious passions seize ; — 

The father's double pangs, both for himself 

And sons convuls'd ; to Heaven his rueful look. 

Imploring aid, and half-accusing, cast ; 

His fell despair, with indignation mix'd. 

As the strong-curling monsters from his side 200 

His full-extended fury cannot tear. 

More tender touch'd, with varied art, his sons 

All the soft rage of younger passions show. 

In a boy's helpless fate one sinks oppress'd ; 

"Wliile, yet unpierc'd, the frighted other tries 

His foot to steal out of the horrid twine. 

• ' Queen of Love : ' the Venus of Medicis, — ^ ' Masterpiece : ' the group ot 
Laocoon and his two sons destroyed by two serpents. — ' ' Maro : ' see JKneid, 
ii. ver. 199-227. 



224 LIBERTY. 

" She bore no more, but straight from Gothic rust, 207 
Her chisel rlear'd, and dust^ and fragments drove 
Impetuous round. Successive as it went 
From son to son, with more enlivening touch, 
From the brute rock it call'd the breathing form; 
Till, in a legislator's awful grace 
Dress'd, Buonarotti bid a Moses rise, 
And, looking love immense, a Saviour-God. 

" Of these observant, Painting felt the fire 
Burn inward. Then ecstatic she diflfus'd 
The canvas, seiz'd the palette, with quick hand 
The colours brew'd, and on the void expanse 
Her gay creation pour'd, her mimic world. 
Poor was the manner of her eldest race, 220 

Barren, and dry ; just struggling from the taste 
That had for ages scar'd in cloisters dim 
The superstitious herd : yet glorious then 
Were deem'd their works ; where undevelop'd lay 
The future wonders that enrich'd mankind. 
And a new light and grace o'er Europe cast. 
Arts gradual gather streams. Enlarging this, 
To each his portion of her various gifts 
The Goddess dealt, to none indulging all ; 
No, not to Raphael. At kind distance still 230 

Perfection stands, like Happiness, to tempt 
Th' eternal chase. In elegant design, 
Improving Nature ; in ideas fair. 
Or great, extracted from the fine antique ; 
In attitude, expression, airs divine ; 
Her sons of Rome and Florence bore the prize. 
To those of Venice she the magic art 
Of colours melting into colours gave. 
Theirs, too, it was, by one embracing mass 

* Referring to Michael Angelo's mode of working in the fury of enthuBiasni. 



BRITAIN. 225 

Of liglit and shade, that settles round the whole, 240 
Or varies tremulous from part to part, 
O'er all a binding harmonj to throw, 
To raise the picture, and repose the sight. 
The Lombard school^ succeeding, mingled both. 

" Meantime dread fanes and palaces around 
Rear'd the magnific front. Music again 
Her uniyersal language of the heart 
Renew'd ; and, rising from the plaintive vale. 
To the full concert spread, and solemn quire. 

" Even bigots smil'd ; to their protection took 250 
Arts not their own, and from them borrowed pomp : 
For in a tyrant's garden these a while 
May bloom, though Freedom be their parent soil. 

" And now confess'd, with gently-growing gleam, 
The morning shone, and westward streamed its light. ' 
The Muse awoke. Not sooner on the wing 
Is the gay bird of dawn. Artless her voice. 
Untaught and wild, yet warbling through the woods 
Romantic lays. But as her northern course 
She, with her tutor. Science, in my train, 260 

Ardent pursued, her strains more noble grew : 
While Reason drew the plan, the Heart inform'd 
The moral page, and Fancy lent it grace. 

" Rome and her circling desarts cast behind, 
I pass'd not idle to my great sojourn. 

" On Arno's fertile plain, where the rich vine 
Luxuriant o'er Etrurian mountains roves, 
Safe in the lap repos'd of private bliss, 
I small republics 2 rais'd. Thrice happy they, 
Had social Freedom bound their peace, and Arts, 

* ' Lombard school : ' the school of the Caracci. — * ' Small republics : ' the 
republics of Florence, Pisa, Lucca, aud Sienna. 

P 



226 LIBERTY. 

Instead of ruling Power (ne*er meant for them), 271 
Employ 'd tlieir little cares, and sav'd tlieir fate ! 

" Beyond the rugged Apennines, that roll 
Far through Italian bounds their wavy tops. 
My path, too, I with public blessings strew'd ; — 
Free states and cities, where the Lombard plain, 
In spite of culture negligent and gross, 
From her deep bosom pours unbidden joys. 
And green o'er all the land a garden spreads. 

" The barren rocks themselves, beneath my foot 280 
Relenting, bloom'd on the Ligurian^ shore. 
Thick-swarming people there, like emmets, seiz'd, 
Amid surrounding cliffs, the scatter'd spots 
Which Nature left in her destroying rage. 
Made their own fields, nor sigh'd for other lands. 
There, in white prospect, from the rocky hill 
Gradual descending to the shelter'd shore, 
By me proud Genoa's marble turrets rose : 
And while my genuine spirit warm'd her sons, 
Beneath her Dorias, not unworthy, she 290 

Vied for the trident of the narrow seas. 
Ere Britain yet had open'd all the main. 

" Nor be the then-triumphant state ^ forgot ; 
Where, push'd from plunder'd earth, a remnant still, 
Inspired by me, through the dark ages kept 
Of my old Roman flame some sparks alive : 
The seeming god-built city, which my hand 
Deep in the bosom fix'd of wond'ring seas ! 
Astonish'd mortals sail'd, with pleasing awe, 
Around the sea-girt M-alls, by Neptune fenc'd, 300 

And down the briny street ; where, on each hand, 
Amazing seen amid unstable waves, 

' 'Ligurian:' i.e., Genoese terrilory. — * 'Triumphant state:' Venice, 
founded on what was a marsh, rescued from the Adriatic. 



BRITAIN. 227 

The splendid palace shines, and rising tides, so3 

The green steps marking, murmur at the door. 

To this fair Queen of Adria's stormj Gulf, 

The mart of nations, long, obedient seas 

RoU'd all the treasure of the radiant East. 

But now no more. Than one great tyrant "worse 

(Whose shar'd oppression lightens, as diffus'd), 

Each subject tearing, many tyrants rose : sio 

The least the proudest. Join'd in dark cabal, 

They, jealous, watchful, silent, and severe, 

Cast o'er the whole indissoluble chains : 

The softer shackles of luxurious ease 

They likewise added, to secure their sway. 

Thus Venice fainter shines ; and Commerce thus, 

Of toil impatient, flags the drooping sail. 

Bursting, besides, his ancient bounds, he took 

A larger circle ; ^ found another seat,^ 

Opening a thousand ports, and charm'd with toil, 320 

Whom nothing can dismay, far other sons. 

" The mountains then, clad with eternal snow, 
Confess'd my pow'r. Deep as the rampant rocks. 
By Nature thrown insuperable round, 
I planted there a league of friendly states,^ 
And bade plain Freedom their ambition be. 
There in the vale, where rural Plenty fills. 
From lakes, and meads, and furrow'd fields, her horn, 
Chief where the Leman pure emits the Rhone, 
Rare to be seen, unguilty cities rise ; 830 

Cities of brothers form'd ; while equal life. 
Accorded gracious with revolving pow'r, 
Maintains them free, and in their happy streets 
Nor cruel deed nor misery is known. 

' ' Larger circle : ' the main ocean. — ' ' Another seat : ' Great Britain. — 
* ' Friendly states : ' the Swiss cantons. 



228 LIBERTY. 

For valour, faith, and innocence of life, 335 

Renown'd, a rough laborious people, there, 

Not onlj give the dreadful Alps to smile. 

And press their culture on retiring snows ; 

But, to firm order train'd, and patient war. 

The J likewise know, bejond the nerve remiss 3 40 

Of mercenary force, how to defend 

The tasteful little their hard toil has earn'd, 

And the proud arm of Bourbon to defj. 

" Even, cheer'd bj me, their shaggy mountains charm 
More than or Gallic or Italian plains ; 
And sickening Fancy oft, when absent long, 
Pines to behold their Alpine views again : — 
The hollow-winding stream ; the vale, fair-spread 
Amid an amphitheatre of hills. 
Whence, vapour-wing'd, the sudden tempest springs ; 
From steep to steep ascending, the gay train 251 

Of fogs, thick-roU'd into romantic shapes ; 
The flitting cloud, against the summit dash'd, 
And, by the sun illumin'd, pouring bright 
A gemmy shower ; hung o'er amazing rocks, 
The mountain-ash, and solemn-sounding pine ; 
The snow-fed torrent, in white mazes toss'd 
Down to the clear ethereal lake below : 
And, high o'er-topping all the broken scene, 
The mountain fading into sky, where shines 860 

On winter winter shivering, and whose top 
Licks from their cloudy magazine the snows. 

" From these descending, as I wav'd my course 
O'er vast Germania, the ferocious nurse 
Of hardy men and hearts affronting death, 
I gave some favour'd cities^ there to lift 
A nobler brow, and through their swarming streets, 

• ' Favour'd cities : ' the Haus towns. 



BRITAIN. 229 

More busy, wealthy, cheerful, and alive, ses 

In each contented face to look my soul. 

" Thence the loud Baltic passing, black with storm, 
To wintry Scandinavia's utmost bound ; 
There I the manly race,^ the parent-hive 
Of the mix'd kingdoms, form'd into a state 
More regularly free. By keener air 
Their genius purg'd, and temper'd hard, by frost. 
Tempest, and toil, their nerves ; the sons of those 
Whose only terror was a bloodless death ; 
They, wise and dauntless, still sustain my cause. 
Yet there I fix'd not. Turning to the South, 
The whisp'ring zephyrs sigh'd at my delay." 38o 

Here, with the shifted vision, burst my joy : 
" the dear prospect ! majestic view ! 
See Britain's empire ! Lo ! the wat'ry vast 
Wide-waves, diffusing the cerulean plain. 
And now, methinks, like clouds at distance seen, 
Emerging white from deeps of ether, dawn 
My kindred cliffs ; whence, wafted in the gale, 
Ineffable, a secret sweetness breathes. 
Goddess, forgive ! — my heart, surpris'd, o'erflows 
With filial fondness for the land you bless." 390 

As parents to a child complacent deign 
Approvance, the Celestial Brightness smil'd ; 
Then thus : " As o'er the wave-resounding deep, 
To my near reign, the happy isle, I steer'd 
With easy wing ; behold ! from surge to surge, 
Stalk'd the tremendous Genius of the Deep. 
Around him clouds, in mingled tempest, hung ; 
Thick-flashing meteors crown'd his starry head ; 
And ready thunder reddeu'd in his hand, 
Or from it stream'd compress'd the gloomy cloud. 

' ' Manlv race : ' the Swedes. 



230 LIBERTY. 

Where'er lie look'd, the trembling waves recoil'd. 4oi 

He needs but strike the conscious flood, and, shook 

From shore to shore in agitation dire. 

It works his dreadful will. To me his voice 

(Like that hoarse blast that round the cavern howls, 

Mix'd. with the murmurs of the falling main) 

Address'd, began : ' By Fate commission'd, go, 

My sister-goddess now, to yon blest isle ; 

Henceforth the partner of my rough domain ! 

All my dread walks to Britons open lie : 4io 

Those that, refulgent, or with rosy morn, 

Or yellow evening, flame ; those that, profuse 

Drunk by equator-suns, severely shine ; 

Or those that, to the poles approaching, rise 

In billows rolling into Alps of ice. 

Even, yet untouch'd by daring keel, be theirs 

The vast Pacific, that on other worlds. 

Their future conquest, rolls resounding tides. 

Long I maintain'd inviolate my reign ; 

Nor Alexanders me, nor Csesars, brav'd. ^20 

Still, in the crook of shore, the coward sail 

Till now low-crept ; and peddling Commerce plied 

Between near-joining lands. For Britons chief 

It was reserved, with star-directed prow. 

To dare the middle deep, and drive assured 

To distant nations through the pathless main. 

Chief for their fearless hearts the glory waits, 

Long months from land, while the black stormy night 

Around them rages, on the groaning mast 

With unshook knee to know their giddy way ; 430 

To sing, unquell'd, amid the lashing wave ; 

To laugh at danger. Theirs the triumph be. 

By deep Invention's keen-pervading eye, 

The heart of Courage, and the hand of Toil, 



BRITAIN. 231 

Each conquer'd ocean staining with their blood, 435 

Instead of treasure robb'd bj ruffian War, 

Round social Earth to circle fair exchange, 

And bind the nations in a golden chain. 

To these I honour'd stoop. Rushing to light 

A race of men behold, whose daring deeds 44o 

Will in renown exalt my nameless plains 

O'er those of fabling Earth, as hers to mine 

In terror yield. Nay, could my savage heart 

Sucli glories check, their unsubmitting soul 

Would all my fury brave, my tempest climb. 

And might in spite of me my kingdom force.' 

Here, waiting no reply, the shadowy Pow'r 

Eas'd the dark sky, and to the deeps return'd : 

While the loud thunder, rattling from his hand, 

Auspicious, shook opponent Gallia's shore. 450 

" Of this encounter glad, my way to land 
I quick pursu'd, that from the smiling sea 
Receiv'd me joyous. Loud acclaims were heard ; 
And music, more than mortal, warbling, fill'd 
With pleas 'd astonishment the labouring hind. 
Who for a while th' unfinish'd furrow left, 
And let the listening steer forget his toil. 
Unseen by grosser eye, Britannia breath 'd, 
And her aerial train, these sounds of joy: 
Full of old time, since first the rushing flood, 460 

Urg'd by Almighty Pow'r, this favour'd isle 
Turn'd flashing from the continent aside, 
Indented shore to shore responsive still, 
Its Guardian she, — the Goddess, whose staid eye 
Beams the dark azure of the doubtful dawn : 
Her tresses, like a flood of soften'd light 
Through clouds imbrown'd, in waving circles play: 
Warm on her cheek sits Beauty's brightest rose : 



232 LIBERTY. 

Of high demeanour, stately, shedding grace 469 

With every motion : full her rising chest ; 
And new ideas, from her finish'd shape, 
Charm'd Sculpture taking, might improve her art. 
Such the fair Guardian of an isle that boasts, 
Profuse as vernal blooms, the fairest dames. 
High-shining on the promontory's brow. 
Awaiting me, she stood ; with hope inflam'd, 
By my mix'd spirit burning in her sons, 
To firm, to polish, and exalt the state. 

" The native Genii round her radiant smil'd : — 
Courage, of soft deportment, aspect calm, 48o 

Unboastful, suffering long, and, till provok'd. 
As mild and harmless as the sporting child ; 
But, on just reason, once his fury rous'd, 
No lion springs more eager to his prey ; 
Blood is a pastime, and his heart elate 
Knows no depressing fear : that Virtue, known 
By the relenting look, whose equal heart 
For others feels, as for another self ; 
Of various name, as various objects wake, 
Warm into action, the kind sense within ; 490 

Whether the blameless poor, the nobly maim'd. 
The lost to reason, the declin'd in life. 
The helpless young that kiss no mother's hand. 
And the grey second infancy of age, 
She gives in public families to live, 
A sight to gladden Heav'n ! whether she stands 
Fair beckoning at the hospitable gate, 
And bids the stranger take repose and joy ; 
Whether, to solace honest Labour, she 
Rejoices those that make the land rejoice ; soo 

Or whether to Philosophy and Arts 
(At once the basis and the finish'd pride 



BRITAIN. 233 

Of government and life) she spreads her hand ; sos 

Nor knows her gift profuse, nor seems to know, 

Doubling her bounty, that she gives at all. 

Justice to these her awful presence join'd, 

The mother of the state ! No low revenge, 

No turbid passions in her breast ferment : 

Tender, serene, compassionate of vice. 

As the last woe that can afflict mankind, 5io 

She punishment awards ; jet, of the good 

More piteous still, and of the suff'ring whole. 

Awards it firm. So fair her just decree. 

That, in his judging peers, each on himself 

Pronounces his own doom. happy land ! 

Where reigns alone this justice of the Free ! 

'Mid the bright group Sincerity his front 

Diffusive rear'd ; his pure untroubled eye 

The fount of truth. The Thoughtful Power, apart, 

Now, pensive, cast on earth his fix'd regard, 520 

Now, touch'd celestial, launch'd it on the sky. 

The Genius he whence Britain shines supreme, 

The land of light and rectitude of mind. 

He too the fire of Fancy feeds intense. 

With all the train of passions thence deriv'd ; 

Not, kindling quick, a noisy transient blaze. 

But gradual, silent, lasting, and profound. 

Near him Retirement, pointing to the shade. 

And Independence stood : the generous pair. 

That simple life, the quiet-whispering grove, 530 

And the still raptures of the free-born soul, 

To cates prefer, by Virtue bought, not earn'd ; 

Proudly prefer them to the servile pomp. 

And to the heart-embitter'd joys of slaves. 

Or should the latter, to the public scene 

Demanded, quit his sylvan friend a while, 



234 LIBERTY. 

Naught can liis firmness shake, nothing seduce 537 

His zeal, still active for the commonweal ; 

Nor stormy tyrants, nor Corruption's tools, 

Foul ministers, dark-working by the force 

Of secret-sapping gold. All their vile arts, 

Their shameful honours, their perfidious gifts, 

He greatly scorns ; and, if he must betray 

His plunder'd country, or his pow'r resign, 

A moment's parley were eternal shame. 

Illustrious into private life again, 

From dirty levees, ho unstain'd ascends. 

And firm in senates stands the patriot's ground, 

Or draws new vigour in the peaceful shade. 

Aloof the Bashful Virtue hover'd coy, 550 

Proving by sweet distrust distrusted worth. 

Rough Labour clos'd the train : and in his hand, 

Rude, callous, sinew-swell'd, and black with toil, 

Came manly Indignation. Sour he seems. 

And more than seems, by lawless pride assail'd ; 

Yet, kind at heart, and just, and generous, there 

No vengeance lurks, no pale insidious gall : 

Ev'n in the very luxury of rage. 

He softening can forgive a gallant foe ; 

The nerve, support, and glory of the land ! 56o 

Nor be Religion, rational and free. 

Here pass'd in silence ; whose enraptur'd eye 

Sees heav'n with earth connected, human things 

Link'd to divine ; who not from servile fear. 

By rites for some weak tyrant incense fit. 

The God of Love adores, but from a heart 

Efi"using gladness, into pleasing awe 

That now astonish'd swells, now in a calm 

Of fearless confidence that smiles serene ; 

That lives devotion, one continual hymn ; 



BEITAIN. 235 

And then most gratcfal, when Heaven's boiintj most 57i 
Is right enjoj'd. This eyer-cheerful Pow'r 
O'er the rais'd circle raj'd superior daj. 

" I joj'd to join the Virtues -whence mj reign 
O'er Albion \vas to rise. Each cheering each, 
And, like the circling planets from the sun, 
All borrowing beams from me, a heighten'd zeal 
Impatient fir'd us to commence our toils. 
Or pleasures rather. Long the pungent time 
Pass'd not in mutual hails ; but, through the land C80 
Darting our light, we shone the fogs awaj. 

" The Virtues conquer with a single look. 
Such grace, such beauty, such victorious light, 
Live in their presence, stream in every glance, 
That the soul, won, enamour'd, and refin'd. 
Grows their own image, pure ethereal flame. 
Hence the foul Demons, that oppose our reign, 
Would still from us deluded mortals wrap ; 
Or in gross shades they drown the visual ray. 
Or by the fogs of prejudice, where mix 590 

Falsehood and truth confounded, foil the sense 
With vain refracted images of bliss. 
But chief around the court of flatter'd kings 
They roll the dusky rampart, wall o'er wall 
Of darkness pile, and with their thickest shade 
Secure the throne. No savage Alp, the den 
Of wolves, and bears, and monstrous things obscene. 
That vex the swain and waste the country round. 
Protected lies beneath a deeper cloud. 
Yet there we sometimes send a searching ray. 600 

As, at the sacred opening of the morn. 
The prowling race retire ; so, pierc'd severe, 
Before our potent blaze these Demons fly. 
And all their works dissolve : — The whisper'd tale, 



236 LIBERTY. 

That, like the fabling Nile, no fountain knows : sos 

Fair-fac'd Deceit, whose wily conscious eye 

Ne'er looks direct : the tongue that licks the dust, 

But, when it safely dares, as prompt to sting : 

Smooth crocodile Destruction, whose fell tears 

Ensnare : the Janus-face of courtly Pride ; 6io 

One to superiors heaves submissive eyes. 

On hapless worth the other scowls disdain : 

Cheeks that for some weak tenderness alone. 

Some virtuous slip, can wear a blush : the laugh 

Profane, when midnight bowls disclose the heart, 

At starving Virtue, and at Virtue's fools : 

Determined to be broke, the plighted faith : 

Nay, more, the godless oath, that knows no ties : 

Soft-buzzing Slander ; silky moths, that eat 

An honest name : the harpy-hand and maw 620 

Of avaricious Luxury ; who makes 

The throne his shelter, venal laws his fort. 

And, by his service, who betrays his king. 

" Now turn your view, and mark from Celtic night 
To present grandeur how my Britain rose. 

" Bold were those Britons who, the careless sons 
Of Nature, roam'd the forest-bounds, at once 
Their verdant city, high-embow ' ring fane. 
And the gay circle of their woodland wars : 
For, by the Druid taught that death but shifts 633 

The vital scene, they that prime fear despis'd ; 
And, prone to rush on steel, disdain'd to spare 
An ill-sa^'d life that must again return. 
Erect from Nature's hand, by tyrant Force, 
And still more tyrant Custom, unsubdu'd, 
Man knows no master save creating Heaven, 
Or such as choice and common good ordain. 
This general sense, with which the nations I 



BRITAIN. 237 

Promiscuous fire, in Britons burn'd intense, 639 

Of future times prophetic. Witness, Rome, 

Who saw'st thy Csesar from the naked land, 

Whose only fort was British hearts, repell'd. 

To seek Pharsalian wreaths. Witness, the toil, 

The blood of ages, bootless to secure 

Beneath an empire's yoke a stubborn isle, 

Disputed hard, and never quite subdu'd. 

The North remain'd untouch'd, where those who scorn'd 

To stoop retir'd ; and, to their keen effort 

Yielding at last, recoil'd the Roman pow'r. 

In vain, unable to sustain the shock, 650 

From sea to sea desponding legions rais'd 

The wall^ immense, and yet, on summer's eve. 

While sport his lambkins round, the shepherd's gaze. 

Continual o'er it burst the Northern Storm ; ^ 

As often, check'd, receded, threatening hoarse 

A swift return. But the devouring flood 

No more endurM control, when, to support 

The last remains of empire, was recall'd 

The weary Roman, and the Briton lay 

Unnerv'd, exhausted, spiritless, and sunk. 660 

Great proof how men enfeeble into slaves ! 

The sword behind him flash'd ; before him roar'd, 

Deaf to his woes, the deep. Forlorn, around 

He roU'd his eye, not sparkling ardent flame, 

As when Caractacus^ to battle led 

Silurian swains, and Boadicea^ taught 

Her raging troops the miseries of slaves. 

" Then (sad relief !) from the bleak coast that hears 
The German Ocean roar, deep-blooming, strong, 

' ' The wall ' of Severus, built upon Adrian's rampart. — ^ ' Northern 
Storm : ' irruptions of the Scots and Picts. — * ' Caractacus : ' King of *he 
Silures, famous for his great exploits. — * * Boadicea : ' Queen of the Iceni : 
her story is well known. 



238 LIBERTY. 

And jellow-hair'd, tlie blue-eyed Saxon came. 670 

He came implorM, but came with other aim 

Than to protect. For conquest and defence 

Suffices the same arm. AVith the fierce race 

Pour'd in a fresh invigorating stream ; 

Blood, where unquell'd a mighty spirit glow'd. 

Rash war, and perilous battle, their delight ; 

And immature, and red with glorious wounds, 

Unpeaceful death their choice ; deriving thence 

A right to feast, and drain immortal bowls, 

In Odin's hall, whose blazing roof resounds «80 

The genial uproar of those shades who fall 

In desperate fight or by some brave attempt ; 

And though more polish'd times the martial creed 

Disown, yet still the fearless habit lives. 

Nor were the surly gifts of war their all. 

Wisdom was likewise theirs, indulgent laws, 

The calm gradations of art-nursing Peace, 

And matchless orders, — the deep basis still 

On which ascends my British reign. Untam'd 

To the refining subtleties of slaves, 690 

They brought a happy government along ; 

Form'd by that freedom which, with secret voice, 

Impartial Nature teaches all her sons. 

And which of old through the whole Scythian mass 

I strong inspir'd. Monarchical their state. 

But prudently confined, and mingled wise 

Of each harmonious power : only, too much, 

Imperious war into their rule infus'd, 

Prevail'd the general-king and chieftain-thanes. 

" In many a field, by civil fury stain'd, 7oo 

Bled the discordant Heptarchy ; ^ and long 
(Educing good from ill) the battle groan'd, 

' ' Heptarchy : ' the seven kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxona. 



BRITAIN. 239 

Ere, blood-cemented, Anglo-Saxons saw 703 

Egbert^ and Peace on one united throne. 

" No sooner dawn'd the fair-disclosing calm 
Of brighter days, when, lo ! the North anew, 
With stormy nations black, on England poui-'d 
Woes the severest e'er a people felt. 
The Danish Raven,^ lur'd by annual prey, 
Hung o'er the land incessant. Fleet on fleet no 

Of barbarous pirates unremitting tore 
The miserable coast. Before them stalk'd. 
Far-seen, the Demon of devouring Flame ; 
Rapine, and Murder, all with blood besmear'd, 
Without or ear, or eye, or feeling heart ; 
While close behind them march'd the sallow Pow'r 
Of desolating Famine, who delights 
In grass-grown cities, and in desert fields ; 
And purple-spotted Pestilence, by whom 
Ev'n Friendship scar'd, in sick'ning horror sinks 720 
Each social sense and tenderness of life. 
Fixing at last, the sanguinary race 
Spread, from the Humber's loud-resounding shore, 
To where the Thames devolves his gentle maze, 
And with superior arm the Saxon aw 'd. 
But Superstition first, and monkish dreams. 
And monk-directed cloister-seeking kings, 
Had ate away his vigour, ate away 
His edge of courage, and depress'd the soul 
Of conquering freedom which he once respir'd. 730 

Thus cruel ages pass'd ; and rare appear'd 
White-mantled Peace, exulting o'er the vale. 
As when, with Alfred, from the wilds she came 
To policed cities and protected plains. 

' ' Egbert : ' King of Wessex, who was the first king of England.—* ' Danish 
Raven:' a famous Danish standard was callea Rea/an^ or Raven. 



240 LIBERTY. 

Thus hj degrees the Saxon empire sunk, 735 

Then set entire in Hastings' bloody field. 

" Compendious war ! (on Britain's glorj bent, 
So Fate ordain'd,) in that decisive day. 
The haughty Norman seiz'd at once an isle, 
For which, through many a century, in vain, 740 

The Roman, Saxon, Dane, had toil'd and bled. 
Of Gothic nations this the final burst ; 
And, mix'd the genius of these people all. 
Their virtues mix'd in one exalted stream, 
Here the rich tide of English blood grew full. 

" Awhile my spirit slept ; the land awhile, 
Affrighted, droop'd beneath despotic rage. 
Instead of Edward's^ equal gentle laws, 
The furious victor's partial will prevail'd. 
All prostrate lay ; and, in the secret shade, 75o 

Deep-stung but fearful Indignation gnash'd 
His teeth. Of freedom, property, despoil'd. 
And of their bulwark, arms ; with castles crush'd, 
With ruffians quarter'd o'er the bridled land ; 
The shivering wretches, at the Curfew ^ sound. 
Dejected shrunk into their sordid beds, 
And, through the mournful gloom, of ancient times 
Mus'd sad, or dreamt of better. Ev'n, to feed 
A tyrant's idle sport, the peasant starv'd : 
To the wild herd, the pastui-e of the tame, 760 

The cheerful hamlet, spiry town, was giv'n, 
And the brown forest^ roughen'd wide around. 

" But this so dead, so vile submission, long 
EndurM not. Gathering force, my gradual flame 
Shook off the mountain of tyrannic sway. 

» ' Edward : ' Edward III. the Confessor. — ^ ' Curfew : ' the Curfew BeU 
(frohl the French Couvre-feu), which was rung every night at eight o'clock, to 
warn the English to put out their fires and candles, under the penalty of a 
severe fine. — ' ' Brown forest : ' the New Forest, in Hampshire. 



BRITAIN. 241 

Uniis'd to bend, impatient of control, 766 

Tyrants themselves the common tyrant check'd. 

The Church, by kings intractable and fierce 

Denied her portion of the pkmder'd state, 

Or tempted by the timorous and weak 

To gain new ground, first taught their rapine law. 

The Barons next a nobler league began. 

Both those of English and of Norman race, 

In one fraternal nation blended now. 

The nation of the Free ! Press'd by a band 

Of patriots,! ardent as the summer's noon 

That looks delighted on, the tyrant see ! 

Mark how with feign'd alacrity he bears 

His strong reluctance down ; his dark revenge ; 

And gives the Charter, by which life indeed 780 

Becomes of price, a glory to be man ! 

" Through this and through succeeding reigns affirm'd 
These long-contested rights, the wholesome winds 
Of Opposition ^ hence began to blow, 
And often since have lent the country life. 
Before their breath Corruption's insect-blights, 
The darkening clouds of evil counsel, fly ; 
Or, should they sounding swell, a putrid court, 
A pestilential ministry, they purge. 
And ventilated states renew their bloom. V90 

" Though with the temper'd Monarchy here mix'd 
Aristocratic sway, the people still, 
Flatter'd by this or that, as interest lean'd, 
No full protection knew. For me reserv'd, 
And for my Commons, was that glorious turn. 

' ' Patriots : ' on the 5th of June 1215, King John, met by the Barons on 
Runnemede, signed the Great Charter of Liberties, or Magna Charta. — * ' Op- 
position : ' the league formed by the Barons, during the reign of John, m the 
year 1213, was the first confederacy made in England in defence of the nation's 
interest against the king. 



242 LIBEETY. 

They crown'd my first attempt ; in senates^ rose ^^^ 

The fort of Freedom ! Slow till then, alone, 

Had work'd that general liberty, that soul 

Which generous Nature breathes, and which, when left 

By me to bondage was corrupted, Rome 

I through the northern nations wide diffused. 

Hence many a people, fierce with freedom, rush'd 

From the rude iron regions of the North, 

To Lybian deserts swarm protruding swarm. 

And pour'd new spirit through a slavish world. 

Yet, o'er these Gothic states, the king and chiefs 

Retain'd the high prerogative of war, 

And with enormous property engross'd 

The mingled power. But on Britannia's shore 

Now present, I to raise my reign began . sio 

By raising the Democracy, the third 

And broadest bulwark of the guarded state. 

Then was the full, the perfect plan disclos'd 

Of Britain's matchless Constitution, mix'd. 

Of mutual checking and supporting pow'rs, — 

King, Lords, and Commons ; nor the name of Free 

Deserving while the vassal-many droop'd : 

For, since the moment of the whole they form, 

So, as depress'd or rais'd, the balance they 

Of public welfare and of glory cast. sio 

Mark from this period the continual proof. 

" When kings of narrow genius, minion-rid. 
Neglecting faithful worth for fawning slaves ; 
Proudly regardless of their people's plaints, 
And poorly passive of insulting foes ; 
Double, not prudent ; obstinate, not firm ; 
Their mercy fear, necessity their faith ; 

• ' Senates : ' the commons are generally thought to have been first repre- 
sented in parliament towards the end of Henry the Third's reign. 



BRITAIN. 243 

Instead of generous fire, presumptuous, hot, 828 

Rash to resolve, and slothful to perform ; 

Tyrants at once, and slaves ; imperious, mear/ , 

To want rapacious joining shameful waste ; 

Bj counsels weak and wicked easy rous'd 

To paltry schemes of absolute command. 

To seek their splendour in their sure disgrace, 

And in a broken, ruin'd people, wealth ; — 

"When such o'ercast the state, no bond of love, 

No heart, no soul, no unity, no nerve, 

Combin'd the loose disjointed pubhc, lost 

To fame abroad, to happiness at home. 

" But when an Edward and a Henry ^ breath 'd 840 
Through the charm'd whole one all-exerting soul ; 
Drawn sympathetic from his dark retreat, 
"When wide-attracted Merit round them glow'd ; 
When counsels just, extensive, generous, firm, 
Amid the maze of state, determin'd kept 
Some ruling point in view ; when, on the stock 
Of public good and glory grafted, spread 
Their palms, their laurels ; or, if thence they stray 'd, 
Swift to return, and patient of restraint ; 
When regal state, pre-eminence of place, sso 

They scorn'd to deem pre-eminence of ease, 
To be luxurious drones, that only rob 
The busy hive ; as in distinction, pow'r. 
Indulgence, honour, and advantage, first ; 
When they, too, claim'd in virtue, danger, toil, 
Superior rank, with equal hand prepared 
To guard the subject and to quell the foe ; — 
When such with me their vital influence shed, 
No mutter'd grievance, hopeless sigh, was heard ; 
No foul distrust through wary senates ran, 

> ' Edward ' and ' Henry: ' Edward III. and Henry V. 



244 LIBERTY. 

Confined tlieir bounty, and their ardour quencli'd : set 

On aid, unquestion'd, liberal aid was given. 

Safe in tlieir conduct, bj their valour fir'd, 

Fond, where they led, victorious armies rush'd ; 

And Cressy, Poitiers, Agincourt, proclaim 

What Kings supported by almighty Love, 

And People firM with Liberty, can do. 

" Be veil'd the savage reigns,^ when kindred rage 
The numerous-once Plantagenets devour d, 
A race to vengeance vow'd ! and when, oppress'd 870 
By private feuds, almost extinguished lay 
My quivering flame. But, in the next, behold, 
A cautious tyrant ^ lend it oil anew. 

" Proud, dark, suspicious, brooding o'er his gold, 
As how to fix his throne he jealous cast 
His crafty views around ; pierc'd with a ray, 
Which on his timid mind I darted full. 
He mark'd the Barons of excessive sway. 
At pleasure making and unmaking kings ; ^ 
And hence, to crush these petty tyrants, plann'd sso 
A law^ that let them, by the silent waste 
Of Luxury, their landed wealth difi"use. 
And with that wealth their implicated pow'r. 
By soft degrees a mighty change ensuM, 
Ev'n working to this day. With streams, deduc'd 
From these diminished floods, the country smil'd : 
As when impetuous from the snow-heap'd Alps, 
To vernal suns relenting, pours the Rhine ; 
While undivided, oft, with wasteful sweep. 
He foams along ; but, through Batavian meads 890 
Branch'd into fair canals, indulgent flows ; 

• ' Savage reigns : ' during the civil wars betwixt the families of York and 
Lancaster. — * ' Cautious tyrant : ' Henry VIL — * The famous Earl of War- 
wick was called ' the King-maker.' — * ' A law : ' permitting the Barons to 
alienate their lands. 



BRITAIN. 245 

Waters a thousand fields ; and, culture, trade, 892 

Towns, meadows, gliding ships, and villas mix'd, 
A rich, a wondrous landscape rises round. 

" His furious son^ the soul-enslaving chain. 
Which many a doting venerable age 
Had link by link strong-twisted round the land, 
Shook ofi; No longer could be borne a pow'r. 
From Heaven pretended, to deceive, to void 
Each solemn tie, to plunder without bounds, 900 

To curb the generous soul, to fool mankind, 
And, wild at last, to plunge into a sea 
Of blood and horror. The returning light. 
That first through Wicklifi" streak'd the priestly gloom. 
Now burst in open day. Bared to the blaze. 
Forth from the haunts of Superstition crawl'd 
Her motley sons, fantastic figures all ; 
And, wide-dispers'd, their useless fetid wealth 
In graceful labour bloom'd, and fruits of peace. 

" Trade, join'd to these, on every sea display 'd 910 
A daring canvas, pour'd with every tide 
A golden flood. From other worlds were roll'd 
The guilty glittering stores, whose fatal charms. 
By the plain Indian happily despis'd. 
Yet work'd his woe, and to the blissful groves, 
Where Nature liv'd herself among her sons. 
And Innocence and Joy for ever dwelt, 
Drew rage unknown to Pagan climes before ; 
The worst, the zeal-inflam'd Barbarian drew. 
Be no such horrid commerce, Britain, thine ! 920 

But want for want, with mutual aid, supply. 

" The Commons, thus enrich'd and powerful grown, 
Against the Barons weigh'd. Eliza then. 
Amid these doubtful motions, steady gave 

' ' His furious son : ' Henry VIII, 



246 LIBERTY. 

Tlie beam to fix. She, like the Secret Eje 925 

That never closes on a guarded world, 

So sought, so mark'd, so seiz'd the public good, 

That, self-supported, without one allj, 

She aw'd her inward, quell'd her circling, foes. 

Inspired hj me, beneath her sheltering arm, 930 

In spite of raging universal sway ^ 

And raging seas repress'd, the Belgic States, 

My bulwark on the Continent, arose. 

Matchless in all the spirit of her days ! 

With confidence unbounded, fearless love 

Elate, her fervent people waited gaj. 

Cheerful demanded the long-threaten'd fleet,^ 

And dash'd the pride of Spain around their isle. 

Nor ceas'd the British thunder here to rage : 

The deed, reclaim'd, obej'd its awful call ; 940 

In fire and smoke Iberian ports involved, 

The trembling foe ev'n to the centre shook 

Of their new-conquer'd world, and skulking stole, 

By veering winds, their Indian treasure home. 

Meantime, Peace, Plenty, Justice, Science, Arts, 

With softer laurels crown'd her happy reign. 

" As yet uncircumscrib ^d the regal power, 
And wild and vague Prerogative remain'd ; 
A wide voracious gulf, where swallow'd oft 
The helpless subject lay. This to reduce 950 

To the just limit was my great effort. 

" By means that evil seem to narrow man, 
Superior beings work their mystic will : 
From storm and trouble thus a settled calm, 
At last, eff'ulgent, o'er Britannia smil'd. 

" The gathering tempest, Heav'n-commission'd, came, 

* ' Universal sway : ' the dominioa of the house of Austria. — * ' Fleet : ' 
the Spanish Armada. 



BRITAIN. 247 

Came in the Prince,^ who, drunk with flattery, dreamt 

His vain pacific counsels rul'd the world ; 958 

Though scorn'd abroad, bewilder'd in a maze 

Of fruitless treaties ; while at home enslaved, 

And bj a worthless crew insatiate drain'd, 

He lost his people's confidence and love : 

Irreparable loss, whence crowns become 

An anxious burden ! Years inglorious pass'd : 

Triumphant Spain the vengeful draught enjoj'd : 

Abandon'd Frederick ^ pin'd, and Raleigh bled. 

But nothing that to these internal broils, 

That rancour, he began ; while lawless sway 

He, with his slavish doctors, tried to rear 

On metaphysic, on enchanted ground,^ 970 

And all the mazy quibbles of the Schools : 

As if for one, and sometimes for the worst, 

Heav'n had mankind in vengeance only made. 

Vain the pretence ! Not so the dire efi'ect. 

The fierce, the foolish discord^ thence deriv'd, 

That tears the country still, by party-rage 

And ministerial clamour kept alive. 

In action weak, and for the wordy war 

Best fitted, faint this prince pursued his claim ; 

Content to teach the subject-herd how great, 980 

How sacred he ! how despicable they ! 

" But his unyielding son^ these doctrines drank 
With all a bigot's rage (who never damps 
By reasoning his fire) ; and what they taught, 
Warm and tenacious, into practice push'd. 

' ' The Prince : ' James I. — * ' Frederick : ' Elector Palatine, and who had 
been chosen King of Bohemia, but was stripped of all his dominions and dig- 
nities by the Emperor Ferdinand, while James I., his father-in-law, being 
amused from time to time, endeavoured to mediate a peace. — * ' Enchanted 
ground : ' the monstrous, and till then unheard-of, doctrines of divine, inde- 
feasible, hereditary right, passive obedience, &c. — ■* ' Foolish discord : ' the 
parties of Whig and Tory. — * ' Unyielding son : ' Charles I. 



248 LIBERTY. 

Senates in vain their kind restraint applied : 986 

The more thej struggled to support the laws, 
His justice-dreading ministers the more 
Drove him beyond their bounds. Tired with the check 
Of faithful Love, and with the flattery pleas M 
Of false-designing Guilt, the fountain ^ he 
Of Public Wisdom and of Justice shut. 
Wide mourn'd the land. Straight to the voted aid, 
Free, cordial, large, of never-failing source, 
Th' illegal imposition foUow'd harsh, 
With execration giv'n, or ruthless squeez'd 
From an insulted people by a band 
Of the worst ruffians, — those of tyrant Pow'r. 
Oppression walk'd at large, and pour'd abroad 
Her unrelenting train : Informers, spies, looo 

Blood-hounds, that sturdy Freedom to the grove 
Pursue ; projectors of aggrieving schemes, — 
Commerce to load ^ for unprotected seas. 
To sell the starving many to the few,^ 
And drain a thousand ways th' exhausted land. 
Ev'n from that place whence healing Peace should flow, 
And Gospel-truth, inhuman bigots shed 
Their poison ^ round ; and on the venal Bench, 
Instead of Justice, Party held the scale. 
And Violence the sword. Afflicted years, loio 

Too patient, felt at last their vengeance full. 
" Mid the low murmurs of submissive fear 
And mingled rage, my Hampden rais 'd his voice, 
And to the Laws appeal'd : the Laws no more 
In judgment sat, behov'd some other ear ; 
When, instant, from the keen resentive North, 

' ' The fountain : ' parliaments. — ^ ' Commerce to load : ' ship-money. — 
* ' The few: ' monopolies. — * ' Poison ; ' the raging High Church sermons of 
these times. 



BEITAIN. 240 

By long oppression, by Religion rous'd, ioj7 

The guardian army came. Beneath its wing 

Was call'd, though meant to furnish hostile aid, 

The more than Roman senate. There a flame 

Broke out, that clear'd, consum'd, renew'd the land. 

In deep emotion hurl'd, nor Greece, nor Rome, 

Indignant bursting from a tyrant's chain, — 

While, full of me, each agitated soul 

Strung every nerve, and flam'd in every eye, — 

Had e'er beheld such light and heat combin'd, 

Such heads and hearts ; such dreadful zeal, led on 

By calm majestic Wisdom, taught its course 

What nuisance to devour ; such wisdom, fir'd 

With unabating zeal, and aim'd sincere 1030 

To clear the weedy state, restore the laws, 

And for the future to secure their sway. 

" This, then, the purpose of my mildest sons. 
But man is blind : a nation, once infiam'd 
(Chief should the breath of factious Fury blow, 
With the wild rage of mad enthusiast swell'd), 
Not easy cools again. From breast to breast. 
From eye to eye, the kindling passions mix 
In heighten'd blaze ; and, ever wise and just, 
High Heav'n to gracious ends directs the storm. 1040 
Thus in one conflagration Britain wrapp'd, 
And by Confusion's lawless sons despoil'd, 
King, Lords, and Commons, thund'ring to the ground, 
Successive rush'd : — Lo ! from, their ashes rose. 
Gay-beaming radiant youth, the Phoenix-state.^ 

" The grievous yoke of vassalage, the yoke 
Of private life, lay by those flames dissolved ; 
And, from the wasteful, the luxurious king,^ 

> ' Phcenix-state : ' at the Kestoration. — ^ ' Luxurious king : ' Charles II, 



250 LIBERTY. 

Was purchasM ^ that which taught the young to bend. 

Stronger restor'd, the Commons tax'd the whole, loso 

And built on that eternal rock their pow'r. 

The Crown, of its hereditary wealth 

Despoil'd, on senates more dependent grew ; 

And they more frequent, more assur'd. Yet liv'd, 

And in full vigour spread, that bitter root, 

The passive doctrines, by their patrons first 

Oppos'd ferocious when they touch themselves. 

" This wild delusive cant ; the rash cabal 
Of hungry courtiers, ravenous for prey ; 
The bigot, restless in a double chain loeo 

To bind anew the land ; the constant need 
Of finding faithless means, of shifting forms. 
And flattering senates, to supply his waste ; — 
These tore some moments from the careless Prince, 
And in his breast awak'd the kindred plan. 
By dangerous softness long he min/d his way ; 
By subtle arts, dissimulation deep ; 
By sharing what Corruption shower'd profuse ; 
By breathing wide the gay licentious plague, 
And pleasing manners, fitted to deceive. 1070 

" At last subsided the delirious joy, 
On whose high billow from the saintly reign 
The nation drove too far. A pension'd king. 
Against his country bribed by Gallic gold ; 
The port 2 pernicious sold, the Scylla since 
And fell Charybdis of the British seas ; 
Freedom attack'd abroad,^ with surer blow 
To cut it ofi" at home ; the Saviour-League^ 
Of Europe broke ; the progress ev'n advanc'd 

' ' Purchased : ' Court of Wards. — ^ ' The port : ' Dunkirk. — ' ' Freedom 
attack'd abroad : ' the war, in conjunction with France, against the Dutch. — 
* ' Saviour-League : ' the Triple Alliance. 



BEITAIN. 251 

Of uniyersal swaj,^ which to reduce loso 

Such seas of blood and treasure Britain cost ; 
The millions, bj a generous people giv'n, 
Or squander'd vile, or to corrupt, disgrace. 
And awe the land with forces not their own,^ 
Employ 'd ; the darling Chui'ch herself betraj'd ; — 
All these, broad-glaring, op'd the general eye, 
And wak^d my spirit, the resisting soul. 

" Mild was, at first, and half-ashamM, the check 
Of senates, shook from the fantastic dream 
Of absolute submission, — tenets vile, 1090 

Which slaves would blush to own, and which, reduc'd 
To practice, always honest Nature shock ! 
Not ev'n the mask removM, and the fierce front 
Of Tyranny disclosed ; nor trampled laws ; 
Nor seiz'd each badge of freedom^ through the land; 
Nor Sidney bleeding for tF unpublish'd page ; 
Nor on the Bench avow'd Corruption plac'd. 
And murderous Rage itself, in Jeflferies' form ; 
Nor endless acts of Arbitrary Pow'r, 
Cruel and false, — could raise the public arm. iioo 

Distrustful, scatter'd, of combining chiefs 
Devoid, and dreading blind rapacious War, 
The patient Public turns not, till impell'd 
To the near verge of ruin. Hence I rous'd 
The Bigot-king,* and hurried fated on 
His measure immature. But chief his zeal, 
Out-flaming Rome herself, portentous scar'd 
The troubled nation : Mary's horrid days 
To Fancy bleeding rose, and the dire glare 
Of Smithfield lighten'd in its eyes anew. 

* ' Universal sway : ' under Louis XIY. — * ' Forces not their own : ' a 
standing army, raised without the consent of parliament. — ' ' Badge of free- 
dom : ' the charters of corporations. — * ' Bigot-king : ' James II. 



252 LIBERTY. 

Yet silence reign'd. Eacli on another scowl'd mi 

Rueful amazement; pressing down his rage ; 
As, mustering vengeance, the deep thunder frowns, 
Awfully still, waiting the high command 
To spring. Straight from his country, Europe sav'd, 
To save Britannia, lo ! my darling son. 
Than hero more, the patriot of mankind, 
Immortal Nassau, came. I hush'd the deep 
By Demons rous'd, and bade the listed winds,^ 
Still shifting as behov'd, with various breath, 1120 

Waft the Deliverer to the longing shore. 
See, wide alive, the foaming Channel bright 
With swelling sails and all the pride of war ; 
Delightful view, when Justice draws the sword ! 
And mark, diffusing ardent soul around. 
And sweet contempt of death, my streaming flag. 
Ev'n adverse navies^ bless'd the binding gale, 
Kept down the glad acclaim, and silent joy'd. 
Arriv 'd, the pomp, and not the waste, of arms, 
His progress mark'd. The faint-opposing host 1130 

For once, in yielding, their best victory found, 
And by desertion prov'd exalted faith ; 
While his the bloodless conquest of the heart, 
Shouts without groan, and triumph without war. 
" Then dawn'd the period destin'd to confine 
The surge of wild Prerogative, to raise 
A mound restraining its imperious rage. 
And bid the raving deep no farther flow. 
Nor were, without that fence, the swallow'd state 
Better than Belgian plains without their dykes, ii40 
Sustaining weighty seas. This often sav'd 

' ' Listed winds : ' the Prince of Orange, in his passage to England, though 
his fleet had been at first dispersed by a storm, was afterwards extremely 
favoured by several changes of wind. — '^ ' Adverse navies : ' the English fleet. 



BRITAIlSr. 253 

By more than human hand, the Public saw, ii42 

And seiz'd the white-wing'd moment. Pleas' d to yield 

Destructive pow'r,i a wise heroic prince ^ 

Ev'n lent his aid. — Thrice happy, did they know 

Their happiness, Britannia's bounded kings ! 

What though not theirs the boast, in dungeon-glooms 

To plunge bold Freedom ; or to cheerless wilds 

To drive him from the cordial face of friend ; 

Or fierce to strike him at the midnight hour, iiso 

By mandate blind, not Justice, that delights 

To dare the keenest eye of open day 1 

What though no glory to control the laws, 

And make injurious Will their only rule, 

They deem it 1 What though, tools of wanton Pow'r, 

Pestiferous armies swarm not at their call 1 

What though they give not a relentless crew 

Of civil furies — proud Oppression's fangs ! — 

To tear at pleasure the dejected land. 

With starving Labour pamp'ring idle Waste 1 neo 

To clothe the naked, feed the hungry, wipe 

The guiltless tear from lone Afiiiction's eye ; 

To raise hid Merit, set th' alluring light 

Of Virtue high to view ; to nourish Arts, 

Direct the thunder of an injur 'd state, 

Make a whole glorious people sing for joy, 

Bless human-kind, and through the downward depth 

Of future times to spread that better Sun 

Which lights up British soul ; — for deeds like these, 

The dazzling fair career unbounded lies ; iiro 

While (still superior bliss 1) the dark abrupt 

Is kindly barr'd, the precipice of 111. 

Oh, luxiiry divine ! Oh, poor to this, 

* ' Destructive power: ' by the Bill of Rights and the Act of Succession. — 
* ' Heroic prince : ' William III. 



254 LIBERTY. 

Ye giddy glories of despotic thrones ! 1174 

By tliis, by this indeed, is imaged Heav'n, — 
By boundless Good, without the pow'r of 111. 

" And now, behold ! exalted as the cope 
That swells immense o'er many-peopled earth, 
And like it, free, my fabric stands complete, 
The Palace of the Laws. To the four heav'ns 11 so 
Four gates impartial thrown, unceasing crowds. 
With kings themselves the hearty peasant mix'd, 
Pour urgent in. And though to different ranks 
Responsive place belongs, yet equal spreads 
The sheltering roof o'er all ; while plenty flows, 
And glad Contentment echoes round the whole. 
Ye floods, descend ! Ye winds, confirming, blow ! 
Nor outward tempest, nor corrosive Time, 
Naught but the felon undermining hand 
Of dark Corruption, can its frame dissolve, upo 

And lay the toil of ages in the dust." 




PART Y. THE PROSPECT. 

CONTENTS. 

The Author addresses the Goddess of Liberty, marking the happiness and 
grandeur of Great Britain, as arising from her influence. She resumes 
her discourse, and points out the chief Virtues which are necessary to 
maintain her establishment there. Recommends, as its last ornament 
and finishing. Sciences, Fine Arts, and Public Works. The encourage- 
ment of these urged from the example of France,' though under a despotic 
government. The whole concludes with a Prospect of Future Times, given 
by the Goddess of Liberty : this described by the Author, as it passes in 
vision before him. 

Here interposing, as the Goddess paus'd, — 

" blest Britannia ! in thj presence blest, 

Thou Guardian of Mankind ! -whence spring, alonn, 

All human grandeur, happiness, and fame : 

For Toil, by thee protected, feels no pain ; 

The poor man's lot with milk and honey flows ; 

x\nd, gilded with thy rays, ev'n Death looks gay. 

Let other lands the potent blessings boast 

Of more exalting suns. Let Asia's woods, 

Untended, yield the vegetable fleece : lo 

And let the little insect-artist form, 

On higher life intent, its silken tomb. 

Let wondering rocks, in radiant birth, disclose 

The various-tin ctur'd children of the Sun. 

From the prone beam let more delicious fruits 

A flavour drink, that in one piercing taste 

Bids each combine. Let Gallic vineyards burst 

With floods of joy; with mild balsamic juice 

The Tuscan olive. Let Arabia breathe 

Her spicy gales, her vital gums distil ; 



256 LIBERTY. 

Tiirbid with gold, let soutliern rivers flow ; 21 

And orient floods draw soft o'er pearls their maze ; 

Let Afric Taunt her treasures ; let Peru 

Deep in her bowels her own ruin breed, 

The yellow traitor that her bliss betray'd, — 

Unequall'd bliss ! — and to unequall'd rage ! 

Yet nor the gorgeous East, nor golden South, 

Nor, in full prime, that new-discover'd world. 

Where flames the faUing day, in wealth and praise 

Shall with Britannia vie, while. Goddess, she so 

Derives her praise from thee, her matchless charms. 

Her hearty fruits the hand of Freedom own ; 

And, warm with cultm-e, her thick-clust 'ring fields 

Prolific teem. Eternal verdure crowns 

Her meads ; her gardens smile eternal spring. 

She gives the hunter-horse, unquell'd by toil, 

Ardent, to rush into the rapid chase ; 

She, whitening o'er her downs, diffusive pours 

Unnumber'd flocks ; she weaves the fleecy robe 

That wraps the nations ; she to lusty droves 40 

The richest pasture spreads ; and, hers, deep-wave 

Autumnal seas of pleasing plenty round. 

These her delights ; and by no baneful herb. 

No darting tiger, no grim lion's glare, 

No fierce-descending wolf, no serpent roll'd 

In spires immense progressive o'er the land, 

Disturb'd. Enlivening these, add cities, full 

Of wealth, of trade, of cheerful-toiling crowds ; 

Add thriving towns ; add villages and farms, 

Innumerous sow'd along the lively vale, so 

Where bold unrivall'd peasants happy dwell ; 

Add ancient seats, with venerable oaks 

Embosom'd high, while kindred floods below 

Wind through the mead ; and those of modern hand, 



THE PROSrECT. 257 

More pompous, add, that splendid shine afar. 55 

Need I her limpid lakes, her rivers, name, 

Where swarm the finnj race 1 Thee, chief, Thames, 

On whose each tide, glad with returning sails, 

Flows in the mingled harvest of mankind ! 

And thee, thou Severn, whose prodigious swell, go 

And waves resounding, imitate the main ! 

Why need I name her deep capacious ports, 

That point around the world 1 And why her seas ? — 

All Ocean is her own, and every land 

To whom her rolling thunder Ocean bears. 

She too the mineral feeds : tli' obedient lead. 

The warlike iron, nor the peaceful less, 

Forming of life art-civiliz 'd the bond ; 

And that ^ the Tyrian merchant sought of old, 

Not dreaming then of Britain's brighter fame. 70 

She rears to Freedom an undaunted race : 

Compatriot zealous, hospitable, kind. 

Hers the warm Cambrian : hers the lofty Scot, 

To hardship tam 'd, active in arts and arms, 

Fir'd with a restless, an impatient flame. 

That leads him raptur'd where Ambition calls : 

And English merit hers ; where meet combinM 

Whate'er high fancy, sound judicious thought. 

An ample generous heart, undrooping soul, 

And firm tenacious valour, can bestow. so 

Great nurse of fruits, of flocks, of commerce, she ! 

Great nurse of men ! By thee, Goddess, taught, 

Her old renown I trace, disclose her source 

Of wealth, of grandeur, and to Britons sing 

A strain the Muses never touch'd before. 

" But how shall this thy mighty Kingdom stand? 
On what unyielding hasef hoiu finish' d shine ^'' 

' ' That : ' tin. 
E 



258 LIBERTY. 

At this her eye, collecting all its fire, 88 

Beam'd more than human ; and her awful A'oice 
Majestic thus she rais'd : " To Britons bear 
This closing strain, and with intenser note 
Loud let it sound in their awaken'd ear. 

" On Virtue can alone my Kingdom stand, 
On Public Virtue, every Vi?iue joined : 
For, lost this social cement of mankind, 
The greatest empires, by scarce-felt degrees, 
Will moulder soft away ; till, tott'ring loose. 
They prone at last to total ruin rush. 
Unbless'd by Virtue, Government a league 
Becomes, a circling junto of the great, loo 

To rob by law ; Religion mild, a yoke 
To tame the stooping soul, a trick of state 
To mask their rapine, and to share the prey. 
What are without it Senates, save a face 
Of consultation deep and reason free, 
While the determin'd voice and heart are sold '? 
What boasted Freedom, save a sounding name '( 
And what Election, but a market vile 
Of slaves self-barter'd 1 Virtue ! without thee, 
There is no ruling eye, no nerve, in states ; no 

War has no vigour, and no safety Peace : 
Even Justice warps to party ; laws oppress ; 
Wide through the land their weak protection fails ; 
First broke the balance, and then scorn'd the sword. 
Thus nations sink, society dissolves ; 
Rapine, and guile, and violence, break loose. 
Everting life, and turning love to gall ; 
Man hates the face of man, and Indian woods 
And Lybia's hissing sands to him are tame. 

" By those three Virtues be the frame sustained 120 
Of British Freedom : — Independent Life : 



THE PROSPECT. 259 

Integrity in Office ; and, o'er all 122 

Supreme, A Passion for the Commonweal. 

" Hail ! Independence, liail ! Heav'n's next best gift 
To that of life and an immortal soul ! 
The life of life ! that to the banquet high 
And sober meal gives taste, to the bow'd roof 
Fair-dream'd repose, and to the cottage charms. 
Of Public Freedom, hail, thou secret source ! 
Whose streams, from every quarter confluent, form 130 
My better Nile, that nurses human life. 
By rills from thee deduc 'd, irriguous fed, 
The private field looks gay, with Nature's wealth 
Abundant flows, and blooms with each delight 
That Nature craves. Its happy master there. 
The only Freeman, walks his pleasing round ; 
Sweet-featur'd Peace attending ; fearless Truth ; 
Firm Resolution ; Goodness, blessing all 
That can rejoice ; Contentment, surest friend ; 
And still fresh stores from Nature's book deriv'd, ho 
Philosophy, companion ever new. 
These cheer his rural, and sustain or fire. 
When into action call'd, his busy hours. 
Meantime, true-judging, moderate desires, 
Economy and Taste combini'd, direct 
His clear afi*airs, and from debauching fiends 
Secure his little kingdom. Nor can those 
Whom Fortune heaps, without these Virtues reach 
That truce with pain, that animated ease, 
That self-enjoyment springing from within, iso 

That Independence, active or retir 'd. 
Which make the soundest bliss of man below ; 
But, lost beneath the rubbish of their means, 
And drain'd by wants to Nature all unknown, 



260 LIBERTY. 

A wand' ring, tasteless, gailj-wretclied train, ir>5 

Thougli rich, are beggars, and, thougli noble, slaves. 
" Lo ! damn'd to wealth, at what a gross expense 
Thej purchase disappointment, pain, and shame ! 
Instead of hearty hospitable cheer, 
See how the hall with brutal riot flows ; leo 

While, in the foaming flood, fermenting, steep'd. 
The country maddens into party-rage. 
Mark those disgraceful piles of wood and stone ; 
Those parks and gardens, where, his haunts betriram'd, 
And Nature by presumptuous Art oppress'd. 
The woodland Genius mourns. See the full board 
That steams disgust, and bowls that give no joy : 
No Truth invited there, to feed the mind ; 
Nor Wit, the wine rejoicing Reason quafl's. 
Hark how the dome with insolence resounds, iTO 

With those retain'd by Vanity to scare 
Repose and friends. To tyrant Fashion mark 
The costly worship paid, to the broad gaze 
Of fools. From still delusive day to day, 
Led an eternal round of lying hope, 
See, self-abandon'd, how thej^ roam adrift, 
Dash'd o'er the town, a miserable wreck ! 
Then to adore some warbling eunuch turn'd, 
With Midas-ears they crowd ; or to the buzz 
Of masquerade unblushing ; or, to show iso 

Their scorn of Nature, at the tragic scene 
They mirthful sit, or prove the comic true. 
But, chief, behold around the rattling board 
The civil robbers rang'd ; and ev'n the fair, 
The tender fair, each sweetness laid aside, 
As fierce for plunder as all-licens 'd troops 
In some sack'd city ! Thus dissolved their wealth, 
Without one generous luxury dissolv'd. 



THE PROSPECT. 2G1 

Or quarter'd on it many a needless want, 189 

At the throng'd levee bends the venal tribe ; 

With fair but faithless smiles each varnish'd o'er, 

Each smooth as those that miitiiallj deceive, 

And for their falsehood each despising each ; 

Till, shook their patron bj the wintry winds, 

Wide flies the wither'd show'r, and leaves him bare. 

Oh, far superior Afric's sable sons. 

By merchant pilfer'd, to these willing slaves ! 

And rich as unsqueez 'd favourite, to them. 

Is he who can his virtue boast alone ! 

" Britons, be firm, — nor let Corruption sly 200 

Twine round your heart indissoluble chains ! 
The steel of Brutus burst the grosser bonds 
By Csesar cast o'er Rome ; but still remain'd 
The soft-enchanting fetters of the mind, 
And other Caesars rose. Determin'd, hold 
Your Independence ; for, that once destroy'd. 
Unfounded, Freedom is a morning dream, 
That flits aerial from the spreading eye. 

" Forbid it, Pleav'n, that ever I need urge 
Integrity in Office on my sons ! 210 

Inculcate common honour, — not to rob,— 
And whom "? — the gracious, the confiding hand. 
That lavishly rewards ; the toiling poor, 
Whose cup with many a bitter drop is mix'd ; 
The guardian public ; every face they see. 
And every friend ; nay, in eSect, themselves. 
As, in famihar life, the villain's fate 
Admits no cure ; so, when a desp'rate age 
At this arrives, I the devoted race 
Indignant spurn, and, hopeless, soar away. 220 

" But, ah, too little known to modern times ! 
Be not the noblest passion pass'd unsung ; 



262 LIBERTY. 

That ray peculiar, from unbounded Love 223 

Effus'd, whicli kindles the heroic soul, — 

Devotion to the Public. Glorious flame ! 

Celestial ardour ! in what unknown worlds, 

Profusely scatter'd through the blue immense, 

Hast thou been blessing myriads, since in Rome, 

Old virtuous Rome, so many deathless names 

From thee their lustre drew ; since, taught by thee, 230 

Their poverty put splendour to the blush, 

Pain grew luxurious, and ev'n death delight"? 

Oh, wilt thou ne'er, in thy long period, look 

With blaze direct on this my last retreat "? 

" 'Tis not enough, from Self right understood 
Reflected, that thy rays inflame the heart : 
Though Virtue not disdains appeals to Self, 
Dreads not the trial ; all her joys are true. 
Nor is there any real joy save hers. 
Far less the tepid, the declaiming race, 240 

Foes to Corruption, to its wages friends. 
Or those whom private passions, for a while, 
Beneath my standard list, — can they suffice 
To raise and fix the glory of my reign ? 

" An active flood of universal love 
Must swell the breast. First, in efl'usion wide, 
The restless spirit roves creation round, 
And seizes every being : stronger then 
It tends to life, whate'er the kindred search 
Of bhss allies : then, more collected still, 250 

It urges human-kind : a passion grown. 
At last, the central Parent-public calls 
Its utmost efibrt forth, awakes each sense. 
The comely, grand, and tender. Without this, 
This awful pant, shook from sublimer powers 
Then those of Self, this Heav'n-infusM delight. 



THE PROSPECT. 263 

This moral gravitation, rushing prone 257 

To press the public good, my system soon. 
Traverse, to several selfish centres drawn. 
Will reel to ruin ; while for ever shut 
Stand the bright portals of desponding Fame. 

" From sordid Self shoot up no shining deeds, 
None of those ancient lights that gladden earth, 
Give grace to being, and arouse the brave 
To just ambition. Virtue's quickening fire ! 
Life tedious grows, an idly-bustling round, 
Fill'd up with actions animal and mean — 
A dull gazette ! Th' impatient reader scorns 
The poor historic page ; till kindly comes 
Oblivion, and redeems a people's shame. 270 

Not so the times when, emulation-stung, 
Greece shone in Genius, Science, and in Arts, 
And Rome in Virtues dreadful to be told. 
To live was glory then ! and charm'd mankind, 
Through the deep periods of devolving time. 
Those, raptur'd, copy; these, astonish'd, read. 

" True, a corrupted state, with every vice 
And every meanness foul, this passion damps. 
Who can, unshock'd, behold the cruel eye, 
The pale inveigling smile, tlie ruffian front ; 2!<o 

The wretch abandon'd to relentless Self, 
Equally vile if miser or profuse ; 
Pow'rs not of God, assiduous to corrupt ; 
The fell deputed tyrant, who devours 
The poor and weak, at distance from redress ; 
Delirious faction bellowing loud my name ; 
The false, fair-seeming patriot's hollow boast ; 
A race resolv'd on bondage, fierce for chains, 
My sacred rights a merchandise alone 
Esteeminfj, and to work their feeder's will 



264 LIBERTY. 

Bj deeds a horror to mankind prepar'd, 291 

As were the dregs of Romulus of old ; — 

Who these indeed can undetesting see? — 

But who unpitjing 'i To the generous eye 

Distress is virtue ; and, though self-betraj'd, 

A people struggling with their fate must rouse 

The hero's throb. Nor can a land at once 

Be lost to Virtue quite. How glorious, then, 

Fit luxury for gods, to save the good, 

Protect the feeble, dash bold Vice aside, 300 

Depress the wicked, and restore the frail ! 

Posterity, besides, the young are pure, 

And sons may tinge their father's cheek with shame. 

" Should then the times arrive (which Heaven avert !) 
That Britons bend unnerv'd, not by the force 
Of arms, more generous and more manly, quell'd. 
But by Corruption's soul-dejecting arts. 
Arts impudent and gross ! by their own gold, 
In part bestow'd, to bribe them to give all ; 
With party raging, or immers'd in sloth, 310 

Should they Britannia's well-fought laurels yield 
To slily-conquering Gaul, — even from her brow 
Let her own naval oak be basely torn. 
By such as tremble at the stiffening gale. 
And nerveless sink, while others sing rejoie'd. 
Or (darker prospect ! scarce one gleam behind 
Disclosing) should the broad corruptive plague 
Breathe from the city to the farthest hut 
That sits serene within the forest-shade ; 
The fever'd people fire, iniS^ame their wants, 320 

And their luxurious thirst, so gathering rage, 
That, were a buyer found, they stand prepar 'd 
To sell their birthright for a cooling draught : 
Should shameless pens for plain Corruption plead. 



THE PROSPECT. 2G5 

The liired assassins of the commonweal ! 325 

Deem'd the declaiming rant of Greece and Rome, 

Should Public Virtue grow the public scoff, 

Till Private, failing, staggers through the land ; 

TiU round the city loose mechanic Want, 

Dire-prowling nightly, makes the cheerful haunts 330 

Of men more hideous than Numidian wilds ; 

Nor from its fury sleeps the vale in peace ; 

And murders, horrors, perjuries abound ; 

Nay, till to lowest deeds the highest stoop ; 

The rich, like starving wretches, thirst for gold ; 

And those on whom the vernal show'rs of Heaven 

All-bounteous fall, and that prime lot bestow, — 

A power to live to Nature and themselves, — 

In sick attendance wear their anxious days. 

With fortune, joyless, and with honours, mean : — 340 

Meantime, perhaps, profusion flows around, 

The waste of War, without the works of Peace ; 

No mark of millions in the gulf absorb'd 

Of uncreating Vice, none, but the rage 

Of rous'd Corruption still demanding more : — 

That very portion which (by faithful skill 

Employ'd) might make the smiling Public rear 

Her ornamented head, drill'd through the hands 

Of mercenary tools, serves but to nurse 

A locust-band within, and in the bud 350 

Leaves starved each work of dignity and use. 

" I paint the worst. But should these times arrive, 
If any nobler passion yet remain, 
Let all my sons all parties fling aside, 
Despise their nonsense, and together join ; 
Let Worth and Virtue, scorning low despair, 
Exerted full, from every quarter shine, 
Commix'd in heighten'd blaze. Light flash'd to light, 



266 LIBERTY. 

Moral or intellectual, more intense 859 

Bj giving glows. As on pure winter's eve 

Gradual the stars effulge ; fainter at first 

They, straggling, rise ; but when the radiant host, 

In thick profusion pour'd, shine out immense, 

Each casting vivid influence on each. 

From pole to pole a glitt'ring deluge plays. 

And worlds above rejoice, and men below. 

" But why to Britons this superfluous strain 1 — 
Good-nature, honest Truth, ev'n somewhat blunt, 
Of crooked baseness an indignant scorn, 
A zeal unyielding in their country's cause, 370 

And ready Bounty, wont to dwell with them ; — 
Nor only wont, — wide o'er the land difius 'd, 
In many a blest retirement still they dwell. 

" To softer prospect turn we now the view. 
To laurell'd Science, Arts, and Public Works, 
That lend my finish'd fabric comely pride. 
Grandeur, and grace. Of sullen genius he, 
Curs'd by the Muses ! by the Graces loath 'd ! 
Who deems beneath the PubHc's high regard 
These last enlivening touches of my reign. 3S0 

However puS''d with power and gorg 'd with wealth 
A nation be, let trade enormous rise. 
Let East and South their mingled treasures pour. 
Till, swell'd impetuous, the corrupting flood 
Burst o'er the city and devour the land : 
Yet, these neglected, these recording Arts, 
Wealth rots, a nuisance ; and, oblivious sunk, 
That nation must another Carthage lie. 
If not by them, on monumental brass, • 

On sculptur 'd marble, on the deathless page, 390 

Impress'd, renown had left no trace behind, — 
In vain, to future times, the sage had thought, 



THE PROSPECT. 267 

The legislator plann'd, the hero found 393 

A beauteous death, the patriot toil'd in vain. 

Th' awarders thej of Fame's immortal wreath, 

They rouse Ambition, thej the mind exalt, 

Give great ideas, lovely forms infuse. 

Delight the general eye ; and, dress'd by them, 

The moral Venus glows with double charms. 

" Science, my close associate, still attends 400 

Where'er I go. Sometimes, in simple guise, 
She walks the furrow with the consul-swain, 
Whisp'ring unletter'd wisdom to the heart 
Direct ; or, sometimes, in the pompous robe 
Of Fancy dress'd, she charms Athenian wits, 
And a whole sapient city round her burns. 
Then o'er her brow Minerva's terrors nod : 
With Xenophon, sometimes, in dire extremes. 
She breathes deliberate soul, and makes Retreat 
Unequall'd glory : with the Theban sage, — 410 

Epaminondas, first and best of men ! — 
Sometimes she bids the deep-embattled host, 
Above the vulgar reach, resistless form'd, 
March to sure conquest, never gain'd before ! 
Nor on the treacherous seas of giddy state 
Unskilful she : when the triumphant tide 
Of high-swollen Empire wears one boundless smile, 
And the gale tempts to new pursuits of fame, 
Sometimes, with Scipio, she collects her sail, 
And seeks the blissful shore of rural ease, 420 

Where, but th' Aoniau Maids, no sirens sing ; 
Or should the deep-brew'd tempest mutt 'ring rise, 
While rocks and shoals perfidious lurk around. 
With Tully she her wide-reviving light 
To senates holds, a Catiline confounds. 
And saves a while from Caesar, sinking Rome. 



268 LIBERTY. 

Such the kind Power whose piercing eye dissolves 427 

Each mental fetter, and sets Reason free ; 

For me inspiring an enlighten'd zeal, 

The more tenacious as the more convinc'd 

How happy freemen, and how wretched slaves. 

To Britons not unknown, to Britons full 

The Goddess spreads her stores, the secret soul 

That quickens trade, the breath unseen that wafts 

To them the treasures of a balancM world. 

But finer Arts (save what the Muse has sung 

In daring flight, above all modern wing), 

Neglected, droop the head ; and Public Works, 

Broke by Corruption into private gain, 

Not ornament, disgrace ; not serve, destroy. 440 

" Shall Britons, by their own joint wisdom rul'd 
Beneath one royal head, whose vital power 
Connects, enlivens, and exerts the whole ; 
In finer Arts and Public Works shall they 
To Gallia yield 1 yield to a land that bends, 
Uepress'd and broke, beneath the will of one ? 
Of one who, should th' unkingly thirst of gold, 
Or tyrant passions, or ambition, prompt, 
Calls locust-armies o'er the blasted land : 
Drains from its thirsty bounds the springs of wealth, 450 
His own insatiate reservoir to fill : 
To the lone desart Patriot-Merit frowns. 
Or into dungeons. Arts ; when they, their chains 
Indignant bursting, for their nobler works 
All other licence scorn but Truth's and mine. 
Oh, shame to think ! shall Britons, in the field 
Unconquer'd stiU, the better laurel lose ? 
Even in that monarch's ^ reign, who vainly dreamt, 
By giddy power betray'd, and flatter'd pride, 

> ' Monarch : ' Louis XIV, 



THE PROSPECT. 269 

To grasp unbounded swaj ; while, swarming round, 460 

His armies dar'd all Europe to the field ; 

To hostile hands while treasure flow'd profuse, 

And that great source of treasure, subjects' blood, 

Inhuman squander'd, sicken'd every land ; 

From Britain, chief, while mj superior sons. 

In yengeance rushing, dash'd his idle hopes, 

And bade his agonizing heart be low : 

Even then, as in the golden calm of peace. 

What public works at home, what arts arose ! 

AVhat various science shone ! what genius glow'd ! 470 

" 'Tis not for me to paint, diffusive shot 
O'er fair extents of land, the shining road ; 
The flood-compelling arch ; the long canal, ^ 
Through mountains piercing, and uniting seas ; 
The dome resounding sweet with infant joj,^ 
From Famine sav'd, or cruel-handed Shame ; 
And that where Valour counts his noble scars ;^ 
The land where social Pleasure loves to dwell, 
Of the fierce demon, Gothic Duel, freed ; 
The robber from his farthest forest chas'd ; 4 so 

The turbid city clear'd, and, bj degrees, 
Into sure peace the best police refin'd. 
Magnificence, and grace, and decent joy. 
Let Gallic bards record how honour'd Arts 
And Science, by despotic bounty bless'd, 
At distance flourish'd from my parent-eye : 
Restoring ancient taste, how Boileau rose ; 
How the big Roman soul shook, in Corneille, 
The trembling stage ; in elegant Racine, 
How the more powerful, though more humble, voice 490 
Of nature-painting Greece, resistless, breath 'd 

' ' The long canal : ' the Canal of Langiiedoc. — - The hospital for found- 
lings. — ' The hospital for invidid soldiers. 



270 LIBERTY. 

The whole-awaken'd heart ; how Moliere's scene, 492 

Chastis 'd and regular, with well-judg 'd wit, 

Not scatter'd wild, and native humour, grac'd, 

Was life itself; to public honours rais'd, 

How Learning in warm seminaries ^ spread; 

And, more for glory than the small reward, 

How Emulation strove ; how their pure tongue 

Almost obtained what was denied their arms ; 

From Rome, a while, how Painting, courted long, 500 

With Poussin came ; Ancient Design, that lifts 

A fairer front, and looks another soul : 

How the kind art,^ that, of unvalu'd price, 

The famM and only picture easy gives, 

Refin 'd her touch, and, through the shadow'd piece, 

All the live spirit of the painter pour'd ; 

Coyest of arts, how Sculpture northward deign'd 

A look, and bade her Girardon^ arise : 

How lavish grandeur blaz'd ; the barren waste, 

Astonish'd, saw the sudden palace swell, 510 

And fountains spout amid its arid shades : 

For leagues, bright vistas opening to the view, 

How forests in majestic gardens smil'd : 

How menial Arts, by their gay sisters taught. 

Wove the deep flower, the blooming foliage train'd 

In joyous figures o'er the silky lawn. 

The palace cheer'd, ilium 'd the storied wall, 

And with the pencil vied the glowing loom.^ 

" These laurels, Louis, by the droppings rais 'd 
Of thy profusion, its dishonour shade, 520 

And, green through future times, shall bind thy brow ; 
While the vain honours of perfidious war 

* ' Seminaries : ' the Academies of Sciences, of the Belles Lettres, and of 
Painting. — * ' Kind art : ' engraving. — ' ' Girardon : ' a celebrated French 
statuary and architect. — ■• ' Glowing loom : ' the tapestry of the Gobelins. 



THE PEOSPECT. 271 

Wither abliorr'd, or in oblivion lost. 52S 

With what prevailing vigour had thej shot, 

And stole a deeper root, bj the full tide 

Of war-sunk millions fed ! Superior still, 

How had they branch'd luxuriant to the skies, 

In Britain planted, by the potent juice 

Of Freedom swell'd ! Forc'd is the bloom of Arts, 

A false, uncertain spring, when Bounty gives., 530 

Weak without me, a transitory gleam. 

Fair shine the slipp 'ry days, enticing skies 

Of favour smile, and courtly breezes blow ; 

Till Arts, betray'd, trust to the flattering air 

Their tender blossom : then malignant rise 

The blights of Envy, of those insect-clouds 

That, blasting Merit, often cover courts : 

Nay, should, perchance, some kind Maecenas aid 

The doubtful beamings of his prince's soul, 

His wav'ring ardour fix, and unconfin'd 54o 

Diffuse his warm beneficence around ; 

Yet death, at last, and wintry tyrants come, 

Each sprig of genius killing at the root. 

But when with me Imperial Boimty joins. 

Wide o'er the Public blows eternal Spring ; 

While mingled Autumn ev'ry harvest pours 

Of ev'ry land ; whate'er Invention, Art, 

Creating Toil, and Nature, can produce." 

Here ceas'd the Goddess ; and her ardent wings, 
Dipp'd in the colours of the heav'nly bow, 550 

Stood waving radiance round, for sudden flight 
Prepar'd : when thus, impatient, burst my prayer : 
" forming light of life ! better sun ! 
Sun of mankind ! by whom the cloudy North, 
Sublim'd, not envies Languedocian skies, 
That, unstain'd ether all, diffusive smile : 



272 LIBERTY. 

When shall we call these ancient laurels ours f 557 

And when thy work complete f" Straight with her hand 
Celestial red, she touch'd mj darken'd eyes. 
As at the touch of day the shades dissolve, 
So quick, methought, the misty circle clear'd 
That dims the dawn of being here below ; 
The future shone disclos'd, and, in long view. 
Bright-rising eras instant rush'd to light. 

" They come, great Goddess ! I the times behold ! 
The times our fathers in the bloody field 
Have earn'd so dear, and, not with less renown, 
In the warm struggles of the senate-fight. 
The times I see ! whose glory to supply. 
For toiling ages. Commerce round the world 570 

Has wing'd unnumber'd sails, and from each land 
Materials heap'd, that, well-employ'd, with Rome 
Might vie our grandeur, and with Greece our art, 

" Lo ! princes I behold, contriving still. 
And still conducting firm, some brave design ; 
Kings, that the narrow joyless circle scorn, 
Burst the blockade of false-designing men. 
Of treacherous smiles, of adulation fell, 
And of the blinding clouds around them thrown : 
Their court rejoicing millions ; Worth alone, sso 

And Virtue, dear to them ; their best delight, 
In just proportion to give general joy ; 
Their jealous care, thy kingdom to maintain ; 
The public glory theirs ; unsparing love 
Their endless treasure ; and their deeds their praise. 
With thee they work. Naught can resist your force : 
Life feels it quick 'ning in her dark retreats : 
Strong spread the blooms of Genius, Science, Art ; 
His bashful bounds disclosing Merit breaks ; 
A.nd, big with fruits of glory, Virtue blow.s 



THE PKOSPECT. 273 

Expansive o'er the laud. Anotlier race 591 

Of generous youth, of patriot-skes, I see ! 
Not those vain insects fluttering in the blaze 
Of courtj and ball, and play ; those venal souls, 
Corruption's veteran unrelenting bands, 
That, to their vices slaves, can ne'er be free. 

" I see the fountains purg'd whence life derives 
A clear or turbid flow ; see the young mind. 
Not fed impure by chance, by flattery fool'd, 
Or by scholastic jargon bloated proud, goo 

But fill'd and nourish'd by the light of TrutL 
Then, beam'd through fancy the refining ray, • 
And pouring on the heart, the passions feel 
A.t once informing light and moving flame ; 
Till moral, public, graceful action crowns 
The whole. Behold ! the fair contention glows, 
In all that mind or body can adorn, 
And form to life. Instead of barren heads, 
Barbarian pedants, wrangling sons of pride, 
And truth-perplexing metaphysic wits, 6io 

Men, patriots, chiefs, and citizens are form'd. 

" Lo ! Justice, like the liberal light of Heav'ii, 
Unpurchas'd, shines on all ; and from her beam. 
Appalling Guilt, retire the savage crew 
That prowl amid the darkness they themselves 
Have thrown around the laws. Oppression grieves. 
See how her legal Furies bite the lip, 
While Yorks and Talbots their deep snares detect, 
And seize swift Justice through the clouds they raise ! 

" See ! social Labour lifts his guarded head, 62o 

And men not yield to government in vain. 
From the sure land is rooted ruffian Force, 
And the lewd nurse of villains, idle Waste ; 
Lo ! raz'd their haunts, down dash'd their maddening bowl. 

S 



274 LIBERTY. 

A nation's poison ! beauteous Order reigns, (525 

Manlj Submission, unimposing Toil, 

Trade without guile. Civility that marks 

From the foul herd of brutal slaves thy sons, 

And fearless Peace. Or, should affronting War 

To slow but dreadful vengeance rouse the just, C30 

Unfailing fields of freemen I behold, 

That know with their own proper arm to guard 

Their own bless'd isle against a leaojuino; world. 

Despairing Gaul her boiling youth restrains, 

Dissolv'd her dream of universal sway : 

The winds and seas are Britain's wide domain ; 

And not a sail but by permission spreads. 

" Lo ! swarming southward on rejoicing suns, 
Gay Colonies extend ; the calm retreat 
Of undeserved distress, the better home ^40 

Of those whom bigots chase from foreign lands. 
Not built on Rapine, Servitude, and Woe, 
And in their turn some petty tyrant's prey ; 
But, bound by social Freedom, firm they rise ; 
Such as, of late, an Oglethorpe has form'd. 
And, crowding round, the charm'd Savannah sees. 

" Horrid with want and misery, no more 
Our streets the tender passenger afflict. 
Nor shivering Age, nor Sickness without friend. 
Or home, or bed to bear his burning load, 650 

Nor agonizing infant, that ne'er earn'd 
Its guiltless pangs, I see. The stores profuse 
Wliich British bounty has to these assign'd 
No more the sacrilegious riot swell 
Of cannibal devourers ! Right applied, 
No starving wretch the land of Freedom stains : 
If poor, employment finds ; if old, demands, 
If sick, if maim'd, his miserable due ; 



THE PROSPECT. 275 

And will, if young, repay the fondest care. ess 

Sweet sets the sun of stormy life, and sweet 
The morning shines, in Mercy's dews array'd. 
Lo ! how they rise, these families of Heaven ! 
That,^ chief (but why, ye bigots ! why so late 1) 
"Where blooms and warbles glad a rising age : 
What smiles of praise ! and, while their song ascends. 
The listening seraph lays his lute aside. 

" Hark ! the gay Muses raise a nobler strain, 
With active nature, warm impassion'd truth, 
Engaging fable, lucid order, notes 
Of various string, and heart-felt image fiU'd. ero 

Behold ! I see the dread delightful school ^ 
Of temper'd passions and of polish'd life 
Restor'.d. Behold ! the well-dissembled scene 
Calls from embellish'd eyes the lovely tear, 
Or lights up mirth in modest cheeks again. 
Lo ! vanished monster-land. Lo 1 driv'n away 
Those that Apollo's sacred walks profane : 
Their wild creation scatter'd, where a world 
Unknown to Nature, Chaos more confus'd. 
O'er the brute scene its ouran-outangs pours ; eso 

Detested forms, that, on the mind impress'd, 
Corrupt, confound, and barbarize an age ! 

" Behold, all thine again, the Sister-arts ! 
Thy Graces they, knit in harmonious dance. 
Nurs'd by the treasure from a nation drain'd 
Their works to purchase, they to nobler rouse 
Their untam'd genius, their unfetter'd thought ; 
Of pompous tyrants and of dreaming monks 
The gaudy tools and prisoners no more. 

" Lo ! numerous domes- a Burlington confess : 690 
For kings and senates fit, the palace see ; 

^ An hospital for foundlings. — ^ ' School : ' theatre. 



276 LIBERTY. 

The temple, breathing a religious awe ; 692 

Even fram'd with elegance the plain retreat, 
The private dwelling. Certain in his aim, 
Taste, never idlj working, saves expense. 

" See Sylvan Scenes, where Art alone pretends 
To dress her mistress, and disclose her charms ! 
Such as a Pope in miniatm^e has shown ; 
A Bathurst o'er the widening forest ^ spreads ; 
And such as form a Richmond, Chiswick, Stowe. Too 

" August, around, what Public Works I see ! 
Lo ! stately streets, lo ! squares that court the breeze, 
In spite of those to whom pertains the care : 
Engulfing more than founded Roman ways, 
Lo ! ray'd from cities o'er the brighten'd land, 
Connecting sea to sea, the solid road. 
Lo ! the proud arch (no vile exactor's stand) 
With easy sweep bestrides the chafing flood. 
See ! long canals and deepen'd rivers join 
Each part with each, and with the circling main 710 

The whole enliven'd isle. Lo ! ports expand. 
Free as the winds and waves, their sheltering arms. 
Lo ! streaming comfort o'er the troubled deep, 
On every pointed coast the lighthouse tow'rs ; 
And, by the broad imperious mole repell'd. 
Hark how the baffled storm indignant roars !" 

As thick to view these varied Wonders rose. 
Shook all my soul with transport, unassur'd. 
The Vision broke ; and on my waking eye 
Rush'd the still Ruins of dejected Rome. 72o 

• ' Widening forest : ' Okely Woods, near Cirencester 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE 



9in ^[llegartcal poem* 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



This poem being -writ in the manner of Spenser, the obsolete words, and a 
simplicity of diction in some of the lines which borders on the ludicrous, were 
necessary to make the imitation more perfect. And the style of that admirable 
poet, as well as the measure in which he wrote, are, as it were, appropriated 
by custom to all allegorical poems writ in our language ; just as in French the 
style of Marot, Avho lived under Francis I., has been used in tales and familiar 
epistles by the politest writers of the age of Louis XTV. 




EXPLANATION OF THE OBSOLETE WORDS USED IN THIS POEM. 



Archimage, the chief, or greatest, 
of magicians or enchanters. 

Apaid, paid. 

Appal, affright. 

Atween, between. 

Aye, always. 

Bale, sorrow, trouble, misfortune. 

Benempt, named. 

Blazon, painting, displaying. 

Breme, cold, raw. 

Carol, to sing s^jngs of joy. 

Caurus, the north-east wind. 

Certes, certainly. 

Dan, a word prefixed to names. 

Deftly, skilfully. 

Depainted, painted. 

Drowsy-head, drowsiness. 

Eath, easy. 

EftsooDs, immediately, often, after- 
wards. 

Eke, also. 

Fays, fairies. 

Gear (or Qeer,) furniture, equipage^ 
dress. 

Glaive, sword (Fr.) 

Glee, joy, pleasure. 

Han, have. 

Hight, named, called; and some- 
times it is used for is called. See 
Canto I. Stanza vil. 

Idless, idleness. 

Imp, child, or offspring ; from the 
Saxon impan, to graft or plant. 

Kest, for cast. 

Lad, /or led. 

Lea, a piece of land, or meadow, 

Libbard, leopard. 

Lig, to lie. 

Lithe, loose, lax. 

Losel, a loose, idle fellow. 

Louting, bowing, bending. 

Mell, mingle. 

Moe, more. 

Moil, labour. 

Alote, might. 



Muchel (or Mochel), much, great. 

Nathless, nevertheless. 

Ne, nor. 

Needments, necessaries. 

Noursling, a child that is nursed^ 

Noyance, harm. 

Perdie (Fr. par Dieu), an old oath. 

Prankt, coloured, adorned gaily. 

Prick'd through the forest, rode 
through the forest. 

Sear, dry, burnt up. 

Sheen, bright, shining. 

Sicker, sure, surely. 

Smackt, savoured. 

Soot, sweet, or sweetly. 

Sooth, true, or truth. 

Stound, misfortune, pang. 

Sweltry, sultry, consuming wiih heat. 

Swink, to labour. 

Thrall, slave. 

Transmew'd, transformed. 

Unkempt (Lat. incomptus), un- 
adorned. 

Vild, vile. 

Ween, to think, be of opinion. 

Weet, to know ; to weet, fo wit. 

Whilom, ere-while, formerly. 

Wight, man. 

Wis (for Wist), to know, think, un- 
derstand. 

Wonne (a Noun), dwelling. 

Wroke, wreakt. 

N.B. — The letter Y w frequentty placed in 
the beginning of a word, by Spenser, to 
lengthen it a syllable, and en at the end 
of a word, for the same reason, as with- 
outen, casten, &c. 

Yborn, born. 

Yblent (or blent), blended, mingled. 

Yclad, clad. 

Ycleped, called, named. 

Yfere, together. 

Ymolten, melted. 

Yode (preter. tense o/yede), went, 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



CANTO I. 

The Castle hight of Indolence, 

And its false luxury ; 
Where for a little time, alas ! 
We liv'd right joUily. 

I. 

MORTAL man, who livest here bj toil, 
Do not complain of this thy hard estate : 
That like an emmet thou must ever moil, 
Is a sad sentence of an ancient date ; 
And, certes, there is for it reason great ; 
For, though sometimes it makes thee weep and wail, 
And curse thy star, and early drudge and late, 
Withouten that would come an heavier bale, — • 
Loose life, unruly passions, and diseases pale. 

II. 

In lowly dale, fast by a river's side. 
With woody hill o'er hill encompass'd round, 
A most enchanting wizard did abide. 
Than whom a fiend more fell is nowhere found. 
It was, I ween, a lovely spot of ground ; 
And there a season atween June and May, 
Half prankt with Spring, with Summer half imbrowu'd, 
A listless climate made, where, sooth to say. 
No hying wight could work, ne cardd ev' n for play. 



280 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCJi:. 



III. 

"Was naught around but images of rest : 
Sleep-soothing groves, and quiet lawns between ; 
And flowery beds, that slumbrous influence kest, 
From poppies breath 'd ; and beds of pleasant green, 
Where never yet was creeping creature seen. 
Meantime unnumber'd glittering streamlets play'd, 
And hurled everywhere their waters sheen ; 
That, as they bicker'd through the sunny glade, 
Though restless still themselves, a lulling murmur made. 

lY. 

Join'd to the prattle of the purling riUs, 
Were heard the lowing herds along the vale, 
And flocks loud-bleating from the distant hills, 
And vacant shepherds piping in the dale : 
And now and then sweet Philomel would wail, 
Or stock-doves plain amid the forest deep, 
That drowsy rustled to the sighing gale ; 
And still a coil the grasshopper did keep : 
Yet all these sounds yblent inclined all to sleep. 

Y. 

Full in the passage of the vale, above, 
A sable, silent, solemn forest stood ; 
Where naught but shadowy forms were seen to move, 
As Idless fancied in her dreaming mood : 
And up the hills, on either side, a wood 
Of blackening pines, aye waving to and fro, 
Sent forth a sleepy horror tlirough the blood ; 
And where this valley winded out below, 
The murmuring main was heard, and scarcely heard, to flow. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 281 



VI. 

A pleasing land of drowsj-head it was ; 
Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye ; 
And of gaj castles in the clouds that pass, 
For ever flushing round a summer sky. 
There eke the soft delights, that witchinglj 
Instil a wanton sweetness through the breast. 
And the calm pleasures, always hover'd nigh ; 
But whate'er smackt of nojance, or unrest. 
Was far, far ojff expell'd from this delicious nest. 

VII. 

The landscape such, inspiring perfect ease. 
Where Indolence (for so the wizard hight) 
Close-hid his castle mid embow'ring trees. 
That half shut out the beams of Phoebus bright, 
And made a kind of checker'd day and night. 
Meanwhile, unceasing at the massy gate, 
Beneath a spacious palm, the wicked wight 
Was placM ; and to his lute of cruel fate 
And labour harsh complain'd, lamenting man's estate. 

VIII. 

Thither continual pilgrims crowded still, 
From aU the roads of earth that pass there by : 
For, as they chanc'' d to breathe on neighbouring hill, 
The freshness of this valley smote their eye, 
And drew them ever and anon more nigh ; 
Till clustering round th' enchanter false they hung, 
Ymolten with his syren melody ; 
While o'er th' enfeebling lute his hand he flung, 
And to the trembling chords these tempting verses sung 



282 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



IX. 

" Behold ! je pilgrims of this earth, behold 1 
See all but man with unearn'd pleasure gaj : 
See her bright robes the butterfly unfold, 
Broke from her wintry tomb in prime of May 1 
What youthful bride can equal her array 1 
Who can with her for easy pleasure vie ? 
From mead to mead with gentle wing to stray, 
From flow'r to flow'r on balmy gales to fly, 
Is all she has to do beneath the radiant skv. 



" Behold the merry minstrels of the morn. 
The swarming songsters of the careless grove ; 
Ten thousand throats that, from the flowering thorn. 
Hymn their good God, and carol sweet of love, 
Such grateful kindly raptures them emove ! 
They neither plough nor sow ; ne, fit for flail, 
E'er to the barn the nodding sheaves they drove ; 
Yet theirs each harvest dancing in the gale, 
Whatever crowns the hill, or smiles along the vale. 

XI. 

" Outcast of Nature, man ! the wretched thrall 
Of bitter-dropping sweat, of sweltry pain, 
Of cares that eat away the heart with gall. 
And of the vices, an inhuman train. 
That all proceed from savage thirst of gain : 
For when hard-hearted Interest first began 
To poison earth, Astrsea left the plain ; 
Guile, Violence, and Murder, seiz'd on man. 
And, for soft milky streams, with blood the rivers ran. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 283 



XIL 

" Come, ye who still the cumbrous load of life 
Push hard up-hill ; but as the farthest steep 
You trust to gain, and put an end to strife, 
Down thunders back the stone with mighty sweep. 
And hurls yom' labom's to the valley deep, 
For ever vain : come, and, withouten fee, 
I in oblivion will your sorrows steep. 
Your cares, yom* toils ; will steep you in a sea 
Of full dehght : come, ye weary wights, to me ! 

XIII. 

" With me, you need not rise at early dawn, 
To pass the joyless day in various stounds ; 
Or, louting low, on upstart Fortune fawn. 
And sell fair Honom' for some paltry pounds ; 
Or through the city take your dirty rounds, 
To cheat, and dun, and lie, and visit pay. 
Now flattering base, now giving secret wounds ; 
Or prowl in courts of law for human prey. 
In venal senate thieve, or rob on broad highway. 

XIV. 

" No cocks, with me, to rustic labour call, 
From village on to village sounding clear ; 
To tardy swain no shrill-voic'd matrons squall • 
No dogs, no babes, no wives, to stun yom' ear ; 
No hammers thump ; no horrid blacksmith sear, 
Ne noisy tradesman your sweet slumbers start 
With sounds that are a misery to hear : 
But all is calm, — as would delight the heart 
Of Sybarite of old, — all nature, and all art. 



284 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



XY. 

" Here naught but candour reigns, indulgent ease, 
Good-natur'd lounging, saunt ring up and down : 
They who are pleased themselves must always please ; 
On others' ways they never squint a frown, - 

Nor heed what haps in hamlet or in town. 
Thus, from the source of tender Indolence, 
With milky blood the heart is overflown. 
Is sooth 'd and sweeten'd by the social sense ; 
For interest, envy, pride, and strife, are banish'd hence. 

XVL 

" What, what is virtue, but repose of mind, 
A pure ethereal calm, that knows no storm ; 
Above the reach of wild Ambition's wind. 
Above those passions that this world deform, 
And torture man, a proud malignant worm 1 
But here, instead, soft gales of passion play, 
And gently stir the heart, thereby to form 
A quicker sense of joy ; as breezes stray 
Across th' enliven'd skies, and make them still more gay. 

XVII. 

" The best of men have ever lov'd repose : 
They hate to mingle in the filthy fray ; 
Where the soul sours, and gradual rancour grows, 
Embitter'd more from peevish day to day. 
Even those whom Fame has lent her fairest ray, 
The most renown'd of worthy wights of yore. 
From a base world at last have stol'n away : 
So Scipio, to the soft Cumaean shore 
Retiring, tasted joy he never knew before. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 285 



XVIIL 



" But if a little exercise you choose, 
Some zest for ease, 'tis not forbidden here. 
Amid the gi'oves jou may indulge the Muse, 
Or tend the blooms, and deck the vernal year ; 
Or, softly stealing, with your watery gear. 
Along the brooks, the crimson-spotted fry 
You may delude : the whilst, amus'd, you hear 
Now the hoarse stream, and now the Zephyr's sigh, 
Attuned to the birds, and woodland melody. 

XIX. 

" grievous folly! to heap up estate, 
Losing the days you see beneath the sun ; 
When, sudden, comes blind unrelenting Fate, 
And gives th' untasted portion you have won. 
With ruthless toil and many a wretch undone. 
To those who mock you gone to Pluto's reign. 
There with sad ghosts to pine, and shadows dun ; 
But sure it is of vanities most vain, 
To toil for what you here untoHing may obtain." 

XX. 

He ceas'd. But still their trembhng ears retain'd 
The deep vibrations of his witching song, 
That, by a kind of magic pow'r, constrain'd 
To enter in, pell-mell, the listening throng. 
Heaps pour'd on heaps, and yet they slipp'd along, 
In silent ease : as when beneath the beam 
Of summer-moons, the distant woods among. 
Or by some flood all silver'd with the gleam. 
The soft-embodied Fays through airy portal stream. 



286 THE CASTLE OP INDOLENCE. 



XXI. 

By the smootli demon so it order'd was, 
And here his baneful bounty first began : 
Though some there were who would not farther pass, 
And his alluring baits suspected han. 
The wise distrust the too fair-spoken man. 
Yet through the gate they cast a wishful eye : 
Not to move on, perdie, is all they can ; 
For, do their very best, they cannot fly; 
But often eacli way look, and often sorely sigh. 

XXII. 

When this the watchful wicked wizard saw. 
With sudden spring he leap'd upon them straight ; 
And soon as touch'd by his unhallow'd paw, 
They found themselves within the cursed gate, 
Full hard to be repass'd, like that of Fate. 
Not stronger were of old the giant-crew. 
Who sought to puU high Jove from regal state ; 
Though feeble wretch he seem'd, of sallow hue : 
Certes, who bides his grasp, will that encounter rue. 

XXIII. 

For whomsoe'er the villain takes in hand, 
Their joints unknit, their sinews melt apace ; 
As lithe they grow as any wiUow-wand, 
And of their vanished force remains no trace : 
So when a maiden fair, of modest grace. 
In all her buxom blooming May of charms. 
Is seized in some losel's hot embrace, 
She waxeth very weakly as she warms. 
Then sighing yields her up to love's delicious harms. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 287 

XXIV. 

WakM bj the crowd, slow from his bench arose 
A comely, full-spread porter, swoln with sleep : 
His calm, broad, thoughtless aspect breath 'd repose ; 
And in sweet torpor he was plunged deep, 
Ne could himself from ceaseless yawning keep ; 
While o'er his eyes the drowsy liquor ran. 
Through which his half-wak' d soul would faintly peep. 
Then, taking his black staff, he call'd his man. 
And rousM himself as much as rouse himself he can. 

XXV. 

The lad leap'd lightly at his master's call. 
He was, to weet, a little roguish page. 
Save sleep and play who minded naught at all, 
Like most the untaught striplings of his age. 
This boy he kept each band to disengage, 
Garters and buckles ; task for him unfit, 
But ill becoming his grave personage, 
And which his portly paunch would not permit ; 
So this same limber page to all perform 'd it, 

XXVI. 

Meantime the master-porter wide display'd 
Great store of caps, of slippers, and of gowns ; 
Wherewith he those who enter'd in array'd. 
Loose as the breeze that plays along the downs, 
And waves the summer-woods, when Evening frowns. 
fair undress, best dress ! it checks no vein, 
But every flowing hmb in pleasure drowns. 
And heightens ease with grace. This done, right fain, 
Sir Porter sat him down, and turn'd to sleep again. . 



288 THE CASTLE OF li^DOLENCE. 



XXVII. 

Thus easy rob'd, they to the fountain sped, 
That in the middle of the court up-threw 
A stream, high-spouting from its liquid bed, 
And falling back again in drizzly dew : 
There each deep draughts, as deep he thirsted, drew, 
It was a fountain of Nepenthe rare : 
Whence, as Dan Homer sings, huge pleasance grew, 
And sweet oblivion of vile earthly care ; 
Fair gladsome waking thoughts, and joyous dreams more fair 

XXVIII. 

This rite perform'd, all inly pleas 'd and still, 
Withouten tromp was proclamation made : — 
" Ye sons of Indolence, do what you will ; 
And wander where you list, through hall or glade ! 
Be no man's pleasure for another stay'd: 
Let each as likes him best his hours employ, 
And curst be he who minds his neighbour's trade 
Here dwells kind Ease and unreproving Joy : 
He little merits bliss who others can annoy." 

XXIX. 

Straight of these endless numbers, swarming round, 
As thick as idle motes in sunny ray. 
Not one eftsoons in view was to be found. 
But every man stroll'd oflf his own glad way. 
Wide o'er this ample court's blank area. 
With all the lodges that thereto pertain'd^ 
No living creature could be seen to stray ; 
While solitude and perfect silence reign'd : 
So that to think you dreamt you almost was constrain'd. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 289 



XXX. 

As when a shepherd of the Hebrid Isles, 
Plac'd far amid the melancholy main, 
(Whether it be lone Fancy him beguiles ; 
Or that aerial beings sometimes deign 
To stand embodied, to our senses plain), 
Sees on the naked hill, or valley low, 
The whilst in ocean Phoebus dips his wain, 
A vast assembly moving to and fro : 
Then all at once in au* dissolves the wondrous show. 

XXXL 

Ye gods of quiet and of sleep profound. 
Whose soft dominion o'er this castle sways, 
And all the widely-silent places round, 
Forgive me, if my trembling pen displays 
What never yet was sung in mortal lays. 
But how shall I attempt such arduous string, 
I who have spent my nights and nightly days 
In this soul-deadening place, loose-loitering ? 
Ah ! how shall I for this uprear my moulted wing 1 

XXXII. 

Come on, my Muse, nor stoop to low despair. 
Thou imp of Jove, touch'd by celestial fire ! 
Thou yet shalt sing of war and actions fair. 
Which the bold sons of Britain will inspire ; 
Of ancient bards thou yet shalt sweep the lyre ; 
Thou yet shalt tread in tragic pall the stage, 
Paint love's enchanting woes, the hero's ire. 
The sage's calm, the patriot's noble rage, 
Dashing corruption down through every worthless age. 

T 



290 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



XXXIII. 

The doors, that knew no shrill alarming bell, 
Ne cursed knocker plied by villain's hand, 
Self-open'd into halls, where who can tell 
What elegance and grandeur wide expand, 
The pride of Turkey and of Persia land ? 
Soft quilts on quilts, on carpets carpets spread, 
And couches stretch'd around in seemly band ; 
And endless pillows rise to prop the head ; 
So that each spacious room was one full-swelling bed. 

XXXIV. 

And every where huge cover'd tables stood. 
With wines high-flavour'd and rich viands crown'd ; 
Whatever sprightly juice or tasteful food 
On the green bosom of this Earth are found. 
And all old Ocean genders in his round. 
Some hand unseen these silently display'd, 
Even undemanded by a sign or sound : 
You need but wish, and, instantly obey'd, 
Fair rang'd the dishes rose, and thick the glasses play'd. 

XXXV. 

Here freedom reign'd, without the least alloy ; 
Nor gossip's tale, nor ancient maiden's gall. 
Nor saintly spleen durst murmur at our joy, 
And with envenom'd tongue our pleasures pall. 
For why ? there was but one great rule for all ; 
To wit, that each should work his own desire. 
And eat, drink, study, sleep, as it may fall, 
Or melt the time in love, or wake the lyre, 
And carol what, unbid, the Muses might inspire. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 291 



XXXVL 

The rooms with costlj tapestry were hung, 
Where was inwoven many a gentle tale ; 
Such as of old the rural poets sung, 
Or of Arcadian or Sicilian vale : 
Reclining lovers, in the lonely dale, 
Pour'd forth at large the sweetly-tortur'd heart ; 
Or, sighing tender passion, swell'd the gale. 
And taught charm'd Echo to resound their smart ; 
While flocks, woods, streams, around, repose and peace 
impart. 

XXXVII. 

Those pleas 'd the most, where, by a cunning hand, 
Depainted was the patriarchal age ; 
What time Dan Abraham left the Chaldee land. 
And pastur'd on from verdant stage to stage, 
Where fields and fountains fresh could best engage. 
Toil was not then. Of nothing took they heed, 
But with wild beasts the sylvan war to wage. 
And o'er vast plains their herds and flocks to feed : 
Bless'd sons of Nature they ! true Golden Age indeed ! 

XXXVIII. 

Sometimes the pencil, in cool airy halls. 
Bade the gay bloom of vernal landscapes rise, 
Or Autumn's varied shades imbrown the walls : 
Now the black tempest strikes th' astonish'd eyes ; 
Now down the steep the flashing torrent flies ; 
The trembling sun now plays o'er ocean blue, 
And now rude mountains frown amid the skies: 
Whate'er Lorraine light-touch'd with soft'ning hue, 
Or savage Rosa dash'd, or learned Poussin drew. 



292 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



XXXIX. 

Eacli sound too here to languisliment inclined, 
Lull'd the weak bosom, and induced ease. 
Aerial music in the warbhng wind, 
At distance rising oft, by small degrees, 
Nearer and nearer came, till o'er the trees 
It hung, and breathed such soul-dissolying airs, 
As did, alas ! with soft perdition please : 
Entangled deep in its enchanting snares. 
The listening heart forgot aU duties and all cares. 



XL. 

A certain music, never known before. 
Here lull'd the pensive, melancholy mind ; 
Full easily obtain'd. Behoves no more, 
But sidelong to the gently-waving wind 
To lay the well-tun' d instrument reclin'd ; 
From which, with airy flying fingers light. 
Beyond each mortal touch the most refin'd, 
The god of winds drew sounds of deep delight : 
Whence, with just cause, the Harp of ^olus it hight. 

XLI. 

Ah me ! what hand can touch the string so fine ? 
Who up the lofty diapason roll 
Such sweet, such sad, such solemn airs divine, 
Then let them down again into the soul ? 
Now rising love they fann'd ; now pleasing dole 
They breath M, in tender musings, through the heart ; 
And now a graver sacred strain they stole, 
As when seraphic hands a hymn impart : 
Wild-warbling Nature all, above the reach of Art ! 






THE CiSTLE OF INDOLENCE. 293 



XLII. 

Sucli tlie gaj splendour, the luxurious state, 
Of Caliphs old, who on the Tigris' shore, 
In mighty Bagdat, populous and great, 
Held their bright court, where was of ladies store ; 
And verse, love, music, still the garland wore : 
When sleep was coy, the bard,^ in waiting there, 
Cheer'd the lone midnight with the Muse's lore ; 
Composing music bade his dreams be fair. 
And music lent new gladness to the morning air. 

XLIII. 

Near the payilions where we slept, still ran J"ac'^y 

Soft-tinkling streams, and dashing waters fell, Qa^yn^S Slv^ 
And sobbing breezes sigh'd, and oft began ^^ r a^ j ^ 
(So work'd the wizard) wintry storms to swell, 
As heav'n and earth they would together mell : 
At doors and windows, threatening, seem'd to call 
The demons of the tempest, growling fell, 
Yet the least entrance found they none at all ; 
"Whence sweeter grew our sleep, secure in massy hall. 

XLIV. 

And hither Morpheus sent his kindest dreams, 
Raising a world of gayer tinct and grace ; 
O'er which were shadowy cast Elysian gleams, 
That pla/d, in waving lights, from place to place, 
And shed a roseate smile on Nature's faee. 
Not Titian's pencil e'er could so array. 
So fleece with clouds the pure ethereal space ; 
Ne could it e'er such melting forms display, 
As loose on flowery beds all languishingly lay. 

' ' Bard : ' the Arabian caliphs had poets among the officers of their court. 



294 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



XLV. 

No, fair illusions ! artful pliantoras, no ! 
My Muse will not attempt your fairj-land : 
She has no colours that like you can glow : 
To catch your vivid scenes, too gross her hand. 
But sure it is, was ne'er a subtler band 
Than these same guileful angel-seeming sprites, 
Who thus in dreams voluptuous, soft, and bland, 
Pour'd all th' Arabian heav'n upon our nights. 
And bless'd them oft besides with more refin'd delights. 

XLVL 

They were in sooth a most enchanting train, 
Ev'n feigning virtue ; skilful to unite 
"With evil good, and strew with pleasure pain. 
But for those fiends whom blood and broils dehght ; 
Who hurl the wretch, as if to hell outright, 
Down, down black gulfs, where sullen waters sleep, 
Or hold him clambering all the fearful night 
On beetling cliffs, or pent in ruins deep ; 
They, till due time should serve, were bid far hence to keep. 

XLvn. 

Ye guardian spirits, to whom man is dear, 
From these foul demons shield the midnight gloom ! 
Angels of fancy and of love, be near. 
And o'er the blank of sleep diffuse a bloom ! 
Evoke the sacred shades of Greece and Rome, 
And let them virtue with a look impart : 
But chief, a while, ! lend us from the tomb 
Those long-lost friends for whom in love we smart. 
And fill with pious awe and joy-mix'd woe the heart. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 295 



XLVin. 



Or are jou sportive 1 — Bid the morn of joutli 
Rise to new light, and beam afresh the days 
Of innocence, simplicity, and truth, 
To cares estranged, and manhood's thorny ways. 
What transport, to retrace our boyish plays. 
Our easy bliss, when each thing joy supplied ; 
The woods, the mountains, and the warbling maze 
Of the wild brooks ! — But, fondly wand' ring wide, 
My Muse, resume the task that yet doth thee abide. 

XLIX. 

One great amusement of our household was, 
In a huge crystal magic globe to spy. 
Still as you turn'd it, all things that do pass 
Upon this ant-hiU earth ; where constantly 
Of idly-busy men the restless fry 
Run bustling to and fro with foolish haste, 
In search of pleasures vain that from them fly, 
Or which, obtain'd, the caitiffs dare not taste : — 
When nothing is enjoy'd, can there be greater waste ? 



" Of Vanity the Mirror " this was call'd. 
Here you a muckworm of the town might see, 
At his dull desk, amid his ledgers stall'd. 
Eat up with carking care and penurie ; 
Most like to carcase parch'd on gallow-tree. 
" A penny saved is a penny got : " 
Firm to this scoundrel-maxim keepeth he, 
Ne of its rigour will he bate a jot. 
Till it has quench'd his fire, and banished his pot. 



296 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



LI. 

Straight from the filth of this low gi'ub, behold ! * 
Comes fluttering forth a gaudj spendthrift heir, 
All glossj gaj, enamell'd all with gold, 
The siUj tenant of the summer-air, 
In follj lost, of nothing takes he care. 
Pimps, lawyers, stewards, harlots, flatterers vile. 
And thieving tradesmen him among them share : 
His father's ghost from Limbo-lake, the while, 
Sees this, which more damnation doth upon him pile. 

LII. 

This globe portray'd the race of learned men. 
Still at their books, and turning o'er the page, 
Backwards and forwards : oft they snatch the pen, 
As if inspir'd, and in a Thespian rage ; 
Then write, and blot, as would your ruth engage. 
Why, authors, all this, scrawl and scribbling sore 1 
To lose the present, gain the future age. 
Praised to be when you can hear no more, 
And much enrich'd with fame, when useless worldly store. 

LIIL 

Then would a splendid city rise to view, 
"With carts, and cars, and coaches roaring all : 
Wide-pour'd abroad behold the giddy crew ; 
See how they dash along from wall to wall ! 
At every door, hark how they thund ring call ! 
Good Lord ! what can this giddy rout excite ? 
Why, on each other with fell tooth to fall ; 
A neighbour's fortune, fame, or peace to blight, 
And make new tiresome parties for the coming night. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 297 



LIV. 

The puzzling sons of party next appear'd, 
In dark cabals and nightly juntos met ; 
And now they whisper'd close, now shrugging rear'd 
W important shoulder : then, as if to get 
New light, their twinkling eyes were inward set. 
No sooner Lucifer recalls affairs, 
Than forth they various rush in mighty fret ; 
When, lo ! push'd up to power, and crown'd their cares, 
In comes another set, and kicketh them down stairs. 

LV. 

But what most show'd the vanity of life, 
Was, to behold the nations all on fire. 
In cruel broils engag'd, and deadly strife : 
Most Christian kings, inflam'd by black desire, 
With honourable ruffians in their hire. 
Cause war to rage, and blood around to pour : 
Of this sad work when each begins to tire. 
They sit them down just where they were before. 
Till for new scenes of woe peace shall their force restore. 

LYI. 

To number up the thousands dwelling here, 
A useless were, and eke an endless task ; 
From kings, and those who at the helm appear, 
To gipsies brown in summer-glades who bask. 
Yea, many a man, perdie, I could unmask. 
Whose desk and table make a solemn show, 
With tape-tied trash, and suits of fools that ask 
For place or pension laid in decent row ; 
But these I passen by, with nameless numbers moe. 



298 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



LVII. 

Of all tlic gentle tenants of the place, 
There was a man of special grave remark :^ 
A certain tender gloom o'erspread his face. 
Pensive, not sad ; in thought involvM, not dark : 
As soot this man could sing as morning-lark, 
And teach the noblest morals of the heart : 
But these his talents were yburied stark ; 
Of the fine stores he nothing would impart, 
Which or boon Nature gave, or nature-painting Art 

LVIIL 

To noon-tide shades incontinent he ran, 
Where purls the brook with sleep-inviting sound ; 
Or when Dan Sol to slope his wheels began, 
Amid the broom he bask'd him on the ground. 
Where the wild thyme and camomile are found : 
There would he linger, till the latest raj 
Of light sat trembling on the welkin's bound ; 
Then homeward through the twilight shadows stray, 
Sauntering and slow. So had he passed many a day. 

LIX. 

Yet not in thoughtless slumber were they pass'd : 
For oft tlie heavenly fire, that lay conceai'd 
Beneath the sleeping embers, mounted fast, 
And all its native light anew reveal'd. 
Oft as he traversed the cerulean field. 
And mark'd the clouds that drove before the wind, 
Ten thousand glorious systems would he build, 
Ten thousand great ideas fill'd his mind ; 
But with the clouds they fled, and left no trace behind. 

^ *A man of special,' &c. : William Paterson, Thomson's successor in the 
office of SiuTcyor-general to the Leeward Islands. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 299 



LX. 

With him was sometimes join'd, in silent walk 
(Profoundly silent, for thej never spoke). 
One shyer still,^ who quite detested talk. 
Oft, stung by spleen, at once away he broke, 
To groves of pine and broad o'ershading oak : 
There, inly thrill'd, he wander'd all alone. 
And on himself his pensive fury wroke ; 
Ne ever utter'd word, save, when first shone 
The glittering star of eve, " Thank Heaven ! the day is 
done." 

LXI. 

Here lurk'd a wretch,^ who had not crept abroad 
For forty years, ne face of mortal seen ; 
In chamber brooding like a loathly toad : 
And sure his linen was not very clean. 
Through secret loop-holes, that had practis'd been 
Near to his bed, his dinner vile he took ; 
Unkempt and rough, of squalid face and mien ; 
Our Castle's shame ! whence, from his filthy nook, 
"We drove the villain out for fitter lair to look. 

LXII. 

One day their chaunc'd into these halls to roye 
A joyous youth,^ who took you at first sight : 
Him the wild wave of pleasure hither drove. 
Before the sprightly tempest tossing light. 
Certes, he was a most engaging wight. 
Of social glee, and wit humane though keen, 
Turning the night to day, and day to night : 
For him the merry bells had rung, I ween, 
If in this nook of quiet bells had ever been. 

* ' One shyer still : ' Dr Armstrong, author of ' The Art of Preserving Health.' 
— ^ 'A wretch : ' Henry Welby, an eccentric solitaire of tlie period. — ^ ' Joyoujs 
youth:' John Forbes, son of President Forbes. 



300 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



LXIIL 

But not even pleasure to excess is good : 
What most elates then sinks the soul as low : 
When spring-tide joy pours in with copious flood, 
The higher still th' exulting billows flow, 
The farther back again they flagging go, 
And leave us grovelling on the dreary shore. 
Taught by this son of joy, we found it so ; 
Who, whilst he stay'd, kept in a gay uproar 
Our madden'd Castle all, th' abode of sleep no more. 

LXIV. 

As when in prime of June a burnish'd fly. 
Sprung from the meads, o'er which he sweeps along, 
Cheer'd by the breathing bloom and vital sky, 
Tunes up amid these airy halls his song. 
Soothing at first the gay reposing throng : 
And oft he sips their bowl ; or, nearly drown'd, 
He, thence recov'ring, drives their beds among, 
And scares their tender sleep with trump profound ; 
Then out again he flies, to wing his mazy round. 

LXV. 

Another guest ^ there was, of sense refin'd. 
Who felt each worth, — for ev'ry worth he had ; 
Serene yet warm, humane yet firm his mind. 
As little touch'd as any man's with bad. 
Him through their inmost walks the Muses lad. 
To him the sacred love of Nature lent ; 
And sometimes would he make our valley glad. 
Whenas we found he would not here be pent, 
To him the better sort this friendly message sent : 

> ' Another guest : ' Lord Lyttelton. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 301 



LXVI. 

" Come, dwell with us ! true son of Virtue, come ! 
But if, alas ! we cannot thee persuade 
To lie content beneath our peaceful dome, 
Ne ever more to quit our quiet glade ; 
Yet when at last thy toils but ill apaid 
Shall dead thy fire, and damp its heavenly spark, 
Thou wilt be glad to seek the rural shade. 
There to indulge the Muse, and Nature mark : 
We then a lodge for thee will rear in Hagley-Park." 

LXVII. 

Here whilom ligg'd th' Esopus^ of the age ; 
But call'd by Fame, in soul yprickt^d deep, 
A noble pride restor'd him to the stage, 
A d rous'd him like a giant from his sleep. 
Ev n from his slumbers we advantage reap : 
With double force th' enliven'd scene he wakes. 
Yet quits not Nature's bounds. He knows to keep 
Each due decorum : now the heart he shakes, 
And now with weU-urged sense th' enlighten'd judgment 
takes. 

LXVIII. 

A bard here dwelt, more_fatJhan bard beseems ; 
2 Who, void of envy, guile, and lust of gain. 
On Virtue still, and Nature's pleasing themes, 
Pour'd forth his unpremeditated strain. 
The world forsaking with a calm disdain. 
Here laugh'd he careless in his easy seat ; 
Here quaff 'd encircled with the joyous train, 
Oft morahziug sage : his ditty sweet 
He loathed much to write, ne cared to repeat. 

' ' Esopus : ' Mr Quiu. — ^ The following lines of this stanza were written 
by Lord Lyttelton, and refer to Thomson himself 



302 THE CASTLE OP INDOLENCE. 



LXIX. 

Full oft by holy feet our ground was trod ; 
Of clerks good plenty here you mote espy. 
] A little, round, fat, oily man of God,^ 
Was one I chiefly mark'd among the fry : 
He had a roguish twinkle in his eye, 
And shone all glittering with ungodly dew, 
If a tight damsel chaunc'd to trippen by ; 
Which when observ'd, he shrunk into his mew. 
And straight would recollect his piety anew. 

LXX. 

Nor be forgot a tribe, who minded naught 
(Old inmates of the place) but state affairs : 
They look'd, perdie, as if they deeply thought ; 
And on their brow sat every nation's cares. 
The world by them is parcell'd out in shares. 
When in the Hall of Smoke they congress hold, 
And the sage berry sun-burnt Mocha bears 
Has clear'd their inward eye : then, smoke-enroll'd, 
Their oracles break forth mysterious as of old. 

LXXI. 

Here languid Beauty kept her pale-fac'd court : 
Bevies of dainty dames, of high degree, 
From every quarter hither made resort ; 
Where, from gross mortal care and bus'ness free, 
They lay, pour'd out in ease and luxury. 
Or should they a vain show of work assume, 
Alas ! and well-a-day ! what can it be ? 
To knot, to twist, or range the vernal bloom ; 
But far is cast the distaff, spinning-wheel, and loom. 

' ' Man of God : ' Rev. Patrick Murdoch, afterwards the biographer of the 
poet. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 303 



LXXII. 

Their only labour was to kill the time ; 
And labour dire it is, and weary woe. 
They sit, they loll, turn o'er some idle rhyme ■; 
Then, rising sudden, to the glass they go, 
Or saunter forth, with tottering step and slow ; 
This soon too rude an exercise they find ; 
Straight on the couch their limbs again they throw. 
Where hours on hours they sighing lie reclin'd, 
And court the vapoury god soft-breathing in the wind. 

Lxxin. 

Now must I mark the villany we found. 
But, ah ! too late, as shall eftsoons be shown. 
A place here was, deep, dreary, under-ground ; 
' Where still our inmates, when unpleasing grown, 
Diseased, and loathsome, privily were thrown. 
Far from the light of heav'n, they languish'd there, 
Un pitied, uttering many a bitter groan ; 
For of these wretches taken was no care : 
Fierce fiends and hags of heU their only nurses were. 

LXXIV. 

Alas the change! from scenes of joy and rest, 
To this dark den, where sickness toss'd alway! 
Here Lethargy, with deadly sleep oppress'd, 
Stretch'd on his back, a mighty lubbard, lay. 
Heaving his sides, and snored night and day ; 
To stir him from his traunce it was not eath. 
And his half-open'd eyne he shut straightway : 
He led, I wot, the softest way to death. 
And taught withouten pain and strife to yield the breath. 



304 THE CASTLE OP INDOLENCE. 



LXXV. 

Of limbs enormous, but witbal unsound, 
Soft-swoln, and pale, here lay the Hydropsy : 
Unwieldy man ; with belly monstrous round, 
For ever fed with watery supply ; 
For still he drank, and yet he still was dry. 
And moping here did Hypochondria sit, 
Mother of Spleen, in robes of various dye, 
Who vexed was full oft with ugly fit ; 
And some her frantic deem'd, and some her deem'd a wit. 

LXXVI. 

A lady proud she was, of ancient blood, 
Yet oft her fear ]ier pride made crouchen low : 
She felt, or fancied in her fluttering mood, 
All the diseases which the 'spitals know. 
And sought all physic which the shops bestow, 
And still new leeches and .new drugs would try. 
Her humour ever wav'ring to and fro ; 
For sometimes she would laugh, and sometimes cry, 
Then sudden waxed wroth, and all she knew not why. 

LXXVII. 

Fast by her side a listless maiden pin'd. 
With aching head, and squeamish heart-burnings ; 
Pale, bloated, cold, she seem'd to hate mankind. 
Yet lov'd in secret all forbidden things. 
And here the Tertian shakes his chilling wings : 
The sleepless Gout here counts the crowing cocks ; 
A wolf now gnaws him, now a serpent stings : 
Whilst Apoplexy cramm'd Intemperance knocks 
Down to the ground at once, as butcher felleth ox. 



CANTO II. 

The Knight of Arts and Industry, 
And his achievements fair ; 

That, by this Castle's overthrow, 
Secured, and crowned were. 

I. 

EscAP 'd the Castle of the sire of sin, 
Ah ! where shall I so sweet a dwelling find ? 
For, all around, without, and all within, 
Nothing save what delightful was and kind, 
Of goodness savouring and a tender mind, 
E'er rose to view. But now another strain, 
Of doleful note, alas ! remains behind : 
I now must sing of pleasure turn'd to pain. 
And of the false enchanter, Indolence, complain. 



II. 

Is there no patron to protect the Muse, 
And fence for her Parnassus' barren soil 1 
To every labour its reward accrues. 
And they are sure of bread who swink and moil j 
But a fell tribe th' Aonian hive despoil. 
As ruthless wasps oft rob the painful bee : 
Thus, while the laws not guard that noblest toil, 
Ne for the Muses other meed decree. 
They praised are alone, and starve right merrily. 



306 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



ilL 

I care not, Fortune, what you me deny : 
You cannot rob me of free Nature's grace ; 
You cannot shut the windows of the sky, 
Through which Aurora shows her brightening face ; 
You cannot bar my constant feet to trace 
The woods and lawns, by living stream, at eve. 
Let health my nerves and finer fibres brace. 
And I their toys to the great children leave : 
Of fancy, reason, virtue, naught can me bereave. 

IV. 

Come, then, my Muse, and raise a bolder song : 
Come, lig no more upon the bed of sloth, 
Dragging the lazy, languid line along, 
Fond to begin, but still to finish loath. 
Thy half-writ scrolls all eaten by the moth. 
Arise, and sing that generous imp of fame 
Who, with the sons of softness nobly wroth. 
To sweep away this human lumber came. 
Or in a chosen few to rouse the slumb'ring flame. 

V. 

In Fairy-land there livM a knight of old. 
Of feature stern, Selvaggio well yclep'd, 
A rough, unpolished man, robust and bold. 
But wondrous poor : he neither sow'd nor reap'd, 
Ne stores in summer for cold winter heap'd ; 
In hunting all his days away he wore ; 
Now scorch'd by June, now in November steep'd, 
Now pinch'd by biting January sore. 
He stiU in woods pursu'd the libbard and the boar. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 307 



VI. 

As he one morning, long before the da-svn, 
Prick'd through the forest to dislodge his prej, 
Deep in the winding bosom of a lawn, 
With wood wild-fring'd, he mark'd a taper's raj, 
That from the beating rain and wintry fray 
Did to a lonely cot his steps decoy : 
There, up to earn the needments of the day, 
He found dame Poverty, nor fair nor coy : 
Her he compress'd, and fill'd her with a lusty boy. 

VII. 

Amid the greenwood shade this boy was bred, 
And grew at last a knight of muchel fame, 
Of active mind and vigorous lustyhed, 
" The Knight of Arts and Industry " by name. 
Earth was his bed, the boughs his roof did frame ; 
He knew no bev'rage but the flowing stream ; 
His tasteful well-earn'd food the sylvan game, 
Or the brown fruit with which the woodlands teem 
The same to him glad Summer, or the Winter breme, 

VIII. 

So pass'd his youthful morning, void of care, 
Wild as the colts that through the commons run : 
For him no tender parents troubled were ; 
He of the forest seem'd to be the son ; 
And certes had been utterly undone, 
But that Minerva pity of him took. 
With all the gods that love the rural wonne, 
That teach to tame the soil and rule the crook ; 
Ne did the sacred Nine disdain a gentle look. 



308 THE CASTLE OP INDOLENCE. 



IX. 

Of fertile genius, him thej nurtur'd well 
In every science and in every art 
By which mankind the thoughtless brutes excel. 
That can or use, or joy, or grace impart, 
Disclosing all the pow'rs of head and heart : 
Ne were the goodly exercises spar'd 
That brace the nerves, or make the limbs alert, 
And mix elastic force with firmness hard : 
"Was never knight on ground mote be with him compar'd. 



Sometimes, with early morn, he mounted gay 
The hunter-steed, exulting o'er the dale, 
And drew the roseate breath of orient day : 
Sometimes, retiring to the secret vale, 
Yclad in steel, and bright with burnish'd mail. 
He strain'd the bow, or toss'd the sounding spear, 
Or, darting on the goal, outstripp'd the gale. 
Or wheel'd the chariot in its mid career, 
Or strenuous wrestled hard with many a tough compeer. 

XI. 

At other times he pry'd through Nature's store, 
Whate'er she in th' ethereal round contains, 
Whate'er she hides beneath her verdant floor, 
The vegetable and the mineral reigns ; 
Or else he scann'd the globe, — those small domains, 
Where restless mortals such a turmoil keep, — 
Its seas, its floods, its mountains, and its plains : 
But more he search'd the mind, and rous'd from sleep 
Those moral seeds whence we heroic actions reap. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 309 



XII. 

Nor would he scorn to stoop from high pursuits 
Of heavenly Truth, and practise what she taught. 
Vain is the tree of knowledge without fruits ! 
Sometimes in hand the spade or plough he caught, 
Forth-calling all with which boon earth is fraught ; 
Sometimes he plied the strong mechanic tool, 
Or rear'd the fabric from the finest draught : 
And oft he put himself to Neptune's school, 
Fighting with winds and waves on the vex'd ocean-pooL 

XIII. 

To solace then these rougher toils, he tried 
To touch the kindling canvas into life ; 
With Nature his creating pencil vied, 
With Nature joyous at the mimic strife : 
Or to such shapes as grac'd Pygmalion's wife 
He hew'd the marble : or, with varied fire, 
He rous'd the trumpet and the martial fife. 
Or bade the lute sweet tenderness inspire, 
Or verses fram'd that well might wake Apollo's lyre. 

XIV. 

Accomplish'd thus, he from the woods issu "d, 
Full of great aims, and bent on bold emprize : 
The work, which long he in his breast had brew'd, 
Now to perform he ardent did devise ; 
To wit, a barbarous world to civilize. 
Earth was till then a boundless forest wild ; 
Naught to be seen but savage wood, and skies : 
No cities nourish'd arts, no culture smil'd. 
No government, no laws, no gentle manners mild. 



310 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



XV. 

A rugged wight, the worst of brutes, was Man ; 
On his own wretched kind he, ruthless, prey'd : 
The strongest still the weakest over-ran ; 
In every country mighty robbers sway'd. 
And guile and ruffian force were all their trade. 
Life was a scene of rapine, want, and woe : 
Which this brave knight, in noble anger, made 
To swear, he would the rascal rout o'erthrow ; 
For, by the Pow'rs Diyine, it should no more be so 1 

XVL 

It would exceed the purport of my song. 
To say how this best sun, from orient climes 
Came, beaming life and beauty all along. 
Before him chasing indolence and crimes. 
Still, as he pass'd, the nations he sublimes. 
And calls forth arts and virtues with his ray : 
Then Egypt, Greece, and Rome, their golden times. 
Successive, had ; but now in ruins grey 
They lie, to slavish Sloth and Tyranny a prey. 

XVII. 

To crown his toils. Sir Industry then spread 
The swelling sail, and made for Britain's coast. 
A sylvan life till then the natives led, 
In the brown shades and greenwood forest lost. 
All careless rambling where it lik'd them most : 
Their wealth the wild-deer bouncing through the glade 
They lodg'd at large, and liv'd at Nature's cost ; 
Save spear and bow, withouten other aid ; 
Yet not the Roman steel their naked breast dismay'd. 



THE CASTLE OP INDOLENCE. 311 



xvin. 

He likM the soil, he lik'd the clement skieg, 
He lik'd the verdaut hills and flow'ry plains. 
" Be this my great, my chosen isle," he cries : 
" This, whilst mj labours Liberty sustains, 
This queen of ocean all assault disdains." 
Nor lik'd he less the genius of the land, 
To freedom apt and persevering pains, 
Mild to obey, and generous to command, 
Temper'd by forming Heaven with kindest, firmest hand 

XIX. 

Here by degrees his master-work arose, 
Whatever arts and industry can frame ; 
Whatever finish'd Agriculture knows, 
Fair queen of arts ! from heav'n itself who came. 
When Eden flourish'd in unspotted fame : 
And still with her sweet Innocence we find. 
And tender Peace, and joys without a name. 
That, while they ravish, tranquillize the mind : 
Nature and Art at once, delight and use, combin ' d. 

XX. 

Then towns he quicken'd by mechanic arts. 
And bade the fervent city glow with toil ; 
Bade social Commerce raise renowned marts, 
Join land to land, and marry soil to soil, 
Unite the poles, and without bloody spoil 
Bring home of either Ind the gorgeous stores ; 
Or, should despotic rage the world embroil. 
Bade tyrants tremble on remotest shores, 
While o'er th' encircling deep Britannia's thunder roars. 



312 THE CASTLE OF INDOLEXCE. 



XXI. 

The drooping Muses then he westward call'd, 
From the fam'd city^ by Propontic Sea, 
AVhat time the Turk th' enfeebled Grecian thrall'd ; 
Thence from their cloister'd walks he set them free, 
And brought them to another Castalie, 
Where Isis many a famous noursling breeds ; 
Or where old Cam soft paces o'er the lea 
In pensive mood, and tunes his Doric reeds, 
The whilst his flocks at large the lonely shepherd feeds. 

XXII, 

Yet the Fine Arts were what he finish'd least. 
For why ? They are the quintessence of all. 
The growth of labouring time, and slow increas'd ; 
Unless, as seldom chances, it should fall, 
That mighty patrons the coy sisters call 
Up to the sunshine of uncumber'd ease, 
Where no rude care the mounting thought may thrall, 
And where they nothing have to do but please : 
Ah ! gracious God ! thou know'st they ask no other fees. 

XXIII. 

But now, alas ! we live too late in time : 
Our patrons now ev'n grudge that little claim. 
Except to such as sleek the soothing rhyme , 
And yet, forsooth, they wear Maecenas' name, — 
Poor sons of puff 'd-up Vanity, not Fame. 
Unbroken spirits, cheer ! Still, still remains 
Th' eternal patron. Liberty ; whose flame. 
While she protects, inspires the noblest strains. 
The best, and sweetest far, are toil-created gains. 

*■ ' Famed city : ' Constantinople. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 313 



XXIV. 

Whenas the knight had framed, in Britain land, 
A matchless form of glorious government, 
In which the sovereign laws alone command, 
Laws 'stablish'd bj the public free consent. 
Whose majesty is to the sceptre lent ; — 
When this great plan, with each dependent art, 
Was settled firm, and to his heart's content, 
Then sought he from the toilsome scene to part. 
And let life's vacant eve breathe quiet through the heart. 

XXV. 

For this he chose a farm in Deva's vale, 
Where his long alleys peep'd upon the main. 
In this calm seat he drew the healthful gale ; 
Here mix'd the chief, the patriot, and the swain. 
The happy monarch of his sylvan train. 
Here, sided by the guardians of the fold. 
He walk'd his rounds, and cheer'd his blest domain : 
His days, the days of unstain'd Nature, roll'd, 
Replete with peace and joy, like patriarch's of old. 

XXVI. 

Witness, ye lowing herds, who gave him milk ; 
Witness, ye flocks, whose woolly vestments far 
Exceed soft India's cotton or her silk ; 
Witness, with Autumn charg'd, the nodding car, 
That homeward came beneath sweet Evening's star, 
Or of September-moons the radiance mild. 
Oh, hide thy head, abominable War, 
Of Crimes and ruffian Idleness the child ! 
From heav'n this life ysprung, from heU thy glories viled! 



314 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



XXVIL 

Nor from his deep retirement banish'd was 
Th' amusing care of rural industry. 
Still, as with grateful change the seasons pass, 
New scenes arise, new landscapes strike the eye, 
And all th' enliven'd country beautify : 
Gay plains extend where marshes slept before ; 
O'er recent meads th' exulting streamlets fly ; 
Dark frowning heaths grow bright with Ceres' store ; 
And woods imbrown the steep, or wave along the shore. 

XXVIII. 

As nearer to his farm you made approach, 
He polish'd Nature with a finer hand : 
Yet on her beauties durst not Art encroach ; 
'Tis Art's alone these beauties to expand. 
In graceful dance immingled, o'er the land. 
Pan, Pales, Flora, and Pomona play'd : 
Here, too, brisk gales the rude wild common fann'd ; 
A happy place ; where, free and unafraid, 
Amid the flow 'ring brakes each coyer creature stray 'd. 

XXIX. 

But in prime vigour what can last for aye 1 
That soul-enfeebling wizard, Indolence, 
I whilom sung, wrought in his works decay : 
Spread far and wide was his curst influence ; 
Of public virtue much he dull'd the sense, 
Ev'n much of private ; ate our spirit out. 
And fed our rank luxurious vices : whence 
The land was overlaid with many a lout ; 
Not, as old Fame reports, wise, generous, bold, and stout 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 315 



XXX. 

A rage of pleasure madden'd everj breast ; 
Down to the lowest lees the ferment ran : 
To his licentious wish each must be blest, 
With joj be fever'd ; snatch it as he can. 
Thus Vice the standard rear'd ; her arriere-ban 
Corruption call'd, and loud she gave the word : 
" Mind, mind yourselves ! why should the vulgar man, 
The lacquey, be more virtuous than his lord '? 
Enjoy this span of hfe ! ^tis all the gods afford." 

XXXL 

The tidings reach'd to where, in quiet hall, 
The good old knight enjoy'd well-earn'd repose. 
" Come, come, Sir Knight ! thy children on thee call ! 
Come, save us yet, ere ruin round us close ! 
The demon Indolence thy toils o'erthrows." 
On this the noble colour stain'd his cheeks, 
Indignant, glowing through the whitening snows 
Of venerable eld ; his eye full speaks 
His ardent soul, and from his couch at once he breaks. 

xxxn. 

'* I will," he cried, " so help me, God ! destroy 
That villain Archimage." — His page then straight 
He to him call'd, a fiery-footed boy, 
Benempt Dispatch : " My steed be at the gate ; 
My bard attend ; quick, bring the net of Fate." 
This net was twisted by the Sisters Three ; ^ 
Which when once cast o'er harden'd wretch, too late 
Repentance comes : replevy ^ cannot be 
From the strong iron grasp of vengeful Destiny. 

' ' Sisters Three : ' Clotho, Atropos, and Lachesis. — * ' Replevy : ' rescue. 



316 THE CASTLE OP INDOLENCE. 



XXXIIL 

He came, the bard, a little Druid wight, 
Of wither'd aspect ; but his eje was keen, 
With sweetness niix'd. In russet brown bedight, 
As is his sister^ of the copses green. 
He crept along, unpromising of mien. 
Gross he who judges so. His soul was fair, 
Bright as the children of yon azure sheen. 
True comeliness, which nothing can impair. 
Dwells in the mind : all else is vanity and glare. 

XXXIV. 

" Come," quoth the knight, " a voice has reach'd mine ear 
The demon Indolence threats overthrow 
To all that to mankind is good and dear. 
Come, Philomelus, let us instant go, 
O'erturn his bowers, and lay his castle low. 
Those men, those wretched men, who will be slaves, 
Must drink a bitter wrathful cup of woe : 
But some there be, thy song, as from their graves, 
Shall raise. Thrice happy he who without rigour saves ! " 

XXXV. 

Issuing forth, the knight bestrode his steed 
Of ardent bay, and on whose front a star 
Shone blazing bright : sprung from the generous breed 
That whirl of active Day the rapid car. 
He pranc'd along, disdaining gate or bar. 
Meantime, the bard on milk-white palfrey rode ; 
An honest sober beast, that did not mar 
His meditations, but full softly trode : 
And much they moraliz'd as thus yfere they yode. 

• ' sister : ' the nightingale. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 317 



XXXVI. 

They talk'd of Virtue, and of human bliss : 
What else so fit for man to settle well ? 
And still their long researches met in this, 
This truth of truths, which nothing can refel : ^ 
" From Virtue's fount the purest joys out-well. 
Sweet riUs of thought that cheer the conscious soul ; 
While Vice pours forth the troubled streams of hell, 
The which, howe'er disguis'd, at last with dole 
Will through the tortur'd breast their fiery torrents roll." 

XXXVII. 

At length it dawn'd, that fatal valley gay, 
O'er which high wood-crown'd hills their summits rear. 
On the cool height a while our palmers stay. 
And spite ev'n of themselves their senses cheer ; 
Then to the vizard's wonne their steps they steer. 
Like a green isle, it broad beneath them spred, 
With gardens round, and wandering currents clear. 
And tufted groves to shade the meadow-bed. 
Sweet airs and song ; and without hurry all seem'd glad. 

XXXVIII. 

"^ As God shall judge me, knight, we must forgive," 
The half-enraptur'd Philomelus cried, 
" The frail good man, deluded here to live, 
And in these groves his musing fancy hide. 
Ah ! naught is pure. It cannot be denied, 
That Virtue still some tincture has of Vice, 
And Vice of Virtue. What should then betide, 
But that our charity be not too nice 1 
Come, let us those we can, to real bliss entice." 

' ' Refel : ' refute. 



318 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



XXXIX. 

" Aj, sicker," quoth the knight, " all flesh is frail, 
To pleasant sin and joyous dalliance bent ; 
But let not brutish Vice of this avail, 
And think to 'scape deserved punishment. 
Justice were cruel, weakly to relent ; 
From Mercy's self she got her sacred glaive : 
Grace be to those who can and will repent ; 
But penance long and dreary to the slave. 
Who must in floods of fire his gross, foul spirit lave." 

XL. 

Thus, holding high discourse, they came to where 
The cursed carle was at his wonted trade ; 
Still tempting heedless men into his snare. 
In witching wise, as I before have said. 
But when he saw, in goodly gear array'd. 
The grave majestic knight approaching nigh. 
And by his side the bard so sage and staid, 
His countenance fell; yet oft his anxious eye 
Mark'd them, like wily fox who roosted cock doth spy. 

XLl. 

Nathless, with feign'd respect, he bade give back 
The rabble-rout, and welcom'd them full kind; 
Struck with the noble twain, they were not slack 
His orders to obey, and fall behind. 
Then he resum'd his song ; and unconfin'd 
Pour'd all his music, ran through all his strings : 
With magic dust their eyne he tries to blind. 
And Virtue's tender airs o'er Weakness flings. 
What pity, base his song who so divinely sings ! 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 319 



XLIL 

Elate in thought, he counted them his own, 
Thej listen'd so intent with fix'd delight : 
But they, instead, as if transmew'd to stone, 
Marvell'd he could with such sweet art unite 
The lights and shades of manners, wrong and right. 
Meantime, the silly crowd the charm devour, 
Wide-pressing to the gate. Swift, on the knight 
He darted fierce, to drag him to his bower. 
Who back^ning shunn'd his touch, for well he knew its 
pow'r. 

XLIII. 

As in throng'd amphitheatre, of old. 
The wary Retiarius^ trapp'd his foe ; 
Ev^n so the knight, returning on him bold, 
At once involv'd him in the net of woe. 
Whereof I mention made not long ago. 
EnragM at first, he scorn'd so weak a jail. 
And leap'd, and flew, and flounced to and fro ; 
But when he found that nothing could avail, 
He sat him felly down, and gnaw'd his bitter nail. 

XLIV. 

Alarm'd, th' inferior demons of the place 
Rais'd rueful shrieks and hideous yells around ; 
Black stormy clouds deform'd the welkin's face. 
And from beneath was heard a wailing sound. 
As of infernal sprites in cavern bound. 
A solemn sadness every creature strook ; 
And lightnings flash'd, and horror rock'd the ground : 
Huge crowds on crowds out-pour'd, with blemish'd look, 
As if on time's last verge this frame of things had shook. 

' ' Retiarius : ' a gladiator, who made use of a net, which he threw over his 
adversary. 



320 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



XLV. 

Soon as the short-liv'd tempest was yspent, 
Steam'd from the jaws of vex'd Avernus' hole, 
And hush'd the hubbub of the rabblement, 
Sir Industry the first calm moment stole : 
" There must," he cried, " amid so vast a shoal, 
Be some who are not tainted at the heart, 
Not poison'd quite by this same villain's bowl : 
Come, then, my bard, thy heavenly fire impart ; 
Touch soul with soul, till forth the latent spirit start." 

XLVL 

The bard obey'd ; and, taking from his side. 
Where it in seemly sort depending hung, 
His British harp, its speaking strings he tried ; 
The which with skilful touch he deftly strung, 
Till tinkling in clear symphony they rung. 
Then, as he felt the Muses come along. 
Light o'er the chords his raptur'd hand he flung, 
And play'd a prelude to his rising song : 
The whilst, like midnight mute, ten thousands round him 
throng. 

XLvn. 

Thus, ardent, burst his strain : " Ye hapless race, 
Dire-labouring here to smother Reason's ray, 
That lights our Maker's image in our face, 
And gives us wide o'er earth unquestion'd sway ; 
What is th' ador'd Supreme Perfection 1 say! 
What, but eternal never-resting Soul, 
Almighty Pow'r, and all-directing Day ; 
By whom each atom stirs, the planets roll ; 
Who fills, surrounds, informs, and agitates the whole. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 321 



XLVIII. 

" Come, to the beaming God jour hearts unfold ! 
Draw from its fountain life ! ^Tis thence alone 
We can excel. Up from unfeeling mold, 
To seraphs burning round th' Almighty's throne, 
Life rising still on life, in higher tone, 
Perfection forms, and with perfection bliss. 
In universal Nature this clear shown 
Not needeth proof : to prove it were, I wis. 
To prove the beauteous world excels the brute abjss. 

XLIX. 

" Is not the field, with lively culture green, 
A sight more joyous than the dead morass ? 
Do not the skies, with active ether clean, 
And fann'd by sprightly zephyrs, far surpass 
The foul November fogs, and slumbrous mass. 
With which sad Nature veils her drooping face 1 
Does not the mountain-stream, as clear as glass. 
Gay dancing on, the putrid pool disgrace ? 
The same in all holds true, but chief in human race. 



" It was not by vile loitering in ease. 
That Greece obtain'd the brighter palm of art : 
That soft, yet ardent, Athens learn'd to please, 
To keen the wit, and to sublime the heart. 
In aU supreme ! complete in every part ! 
It was not thence majestic Rome arose, 
And o'er the nations shook her conquering dart 
For sluggard's brow the laurel never grows ; 
Renown is not the child of indolent Repose. 

X 



322 THE CASTLE OP INDOLENCE. 



LI. 

" Had unambitious mortals minded naught 
But in loose joj their time to wear away ; 
Had thej alone the lap of Dalliance sought, 
Pleas' d on her pillow their dull heads to lay ; 
Rude Nature's state had been our state to-daj ; 
No cities e'er their tower j fronts had rais'd, 
No arts had made us opulent and gaj ; 
With brother-brutes the human race had graz'd ; 
None e'er had soar'd to fame, none honour'd been, none 
prais'd. 

LII. 

" Great Homer's song had never fir'd the breast 
To thirst of glory and heroic deeds ; 
Sweet Maro's Muse, sunk in inglorious rest, 
Had silent slept amid the Mincian reeds : 
The wits of modern time had told their beads. 
And monkish legends been their only strains : 
Our Milton's Eden had lain wrapp'd in weeds. 
Our Shakspeare stroll'd and laugh'd with Warwick swains, 
Ne had my master Spenser charm'd his Mulla's plains. 

LIII. 

" Dumb, too, had been the sage Historic Muse, 
And perish'd all the sons of ancient fame ; 
Those starry lights of virtue, that diffuse 
Through the dark depth of time their vivid flame, 
Had all been lost with such as have no name. 
Who then had scorn'd his ease for others' good ? 
Who then had toil'd, rapacious men to tame 1 
Who in the public breach devoted stood, 
And for his country's cause been prodigal of blood 1 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 323 



LIV. 

" But should to fame your hearts unfeeling be, 
If right I read, you pleasure all require : 
Then hear how best may be obtain'd this fee, 
How best enjoy'd this Nature's wide desire. 
Toil, and be glad ! let Industry inspire 
Into your quicken'd limbs her buoyant breath ! 
Who does not act, is dead ; absorb'd entire 
In miry sloth, no pride, no joy he hath : 
leaden-hearted men, to be in love with death ! 

LY. 

" Better the toiling swain ; oh, happier far ! 
Perhaps the happiest of the sons of men ! 
Who vigorous plies the plough, the team, the car ; 
Who houghs the field, or ditches in the glen, 
Delves in his garden, or secures his pen. 
The tooth of Avarice poisons not his peace ; 
He tosses not in Sloth's abhorred den ; 
From Vanity he has a fuU release ; 
And, rich in Nature's wealth, he thinks not of increase. 

LVI. 

" Good Lord ! how keen are his sensations all ! 
His bread is sweeter than the glutton's cates : 
The wines of France upon the palate paU, 
Compar'd with what his simple soid elates, — 
The native cup, whose flavour thirst creates. 
At one deep draught of sleep he takes the night : 
And for that heartfelt joy which nothing mates, 
Of the pure nuptial-bed the chaste delight. 
The losel is to him a miserable wight. 



324 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



LVII. 

" All ! wliat avail the largest gifts of Heaven, 
When drooping health and spirits go amiss ? 
How tasteless' then whatever can be given ! 
Health is the vital principle of bliss ; 
And exercise, of health. In proof of this, 
Behold the wretch, who slugs his life awaj, 
Soon swallow'd in disease's sad abyss ; 
While he whom toil has brac'd, or manly play, 
Has hght as air each limb, each thought as clear as day. 

LVIII. 

" Oh, who can speak the vigorous joys of health 1 
Unclogg'd the body, unobscur'd the mind : 
The morning rises gay, with pleasing stealth, 

.. The temperate evening falls serene and kind. 
In health the wiser brutes true gladness find. 
See how the younglings frisk along the meads. 
As May comes on, and wakes the balmy wind ! 
Rampant with life, their joy all joy exceeds : 

Yet what but high-strung health this dancing pleasauncc 
breeds ? 

LIX. 

" But here, instead, is foster'd every iU 
Which or distemper'd minds or bodies know. 
Come, then, my kindred spirits ! do not spill 
Your talents here. This place is but a show. 
Whose charms delude you to the den of woe : 
Come, follow me : I will direct you right. 
Where pleasure's roses, void of serpents, grow, 
Sincere as sweet. Come, follow this good knight ; 
And you will bless the day that brought him to your sight. 



THE CASTLE OP INDOLENCE. 325 



LX. 



" Some he will lead to courts, and some to camps ; 
To senate some, and public sage debates. 
Where, by the solemn gleam of midnight lamps. 
The world is pois'd, and manag'd mighty states ; 
To high discovery some, that new-creates 
The face of earth ; some to the thriying mart ; 
Some to the rural reign, and softer fates ; 
To the sweet Muses some, who raise the heart : 
All glory shall be yours, all nature, and all art. 

LXL 

" There are, I see, who listen to my lay ; 
Who wretched sigh for virtue, but despair. 
' All may be done,' methinks I hear them say, 
* Even death despisM by generous actions fair ; 
All, but for those who to these bow'rs repair! 
Their every power dissolv'd in luxury. 
To quit of torpid sluggishness the lair. 
And from the powerful arms of Sloth get free, 
'Tis rising from the dead — alas ! it cannot be ! ' 

Lxn. 
" Would you, then, learn to dissipate the band 
Of these huge threatening difficulties dire, 
That in the weak man's way like lions stand. 
His soul appal, and damp his rising fire 1 
Resolve ! resolve ! and to be men aspire. 
Exert that noblest privilege alone 
Here to mankind indulg'd : Control desire : 
Let godlike Reason, from her sovereign throne, 
Speak the commanding word, / luill ! and it is done. 



326 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



LXIII. 

" Heavens ! can you, then, thus waste in shameful wise 
Your few important days of trial here ? 
Heirs of eternity, yborn to rise 
Through endless states of being, still more near 
To bliss approaching, and perfection clear, — 
Can you renounce a fortune so sublime, 
Such glorious hopes, your backward steps to steer, 
And roll, with vilest brutes, through mud and slime ■? 
No, no ! — your heaven-touch'd hearts disdain the sordid 
crime ! " 

LXIV. 

" Enough! enough!" they cried: straight from the crowd 
The better sort on wings of transport fly : 
As when, amid the lifeless summits proud 
Of Alpine cliffs, where to the gelid sky 
Snows pil'd on snows in wintry torpor lie, 
The rays divine of vernal Phcebus play ; 
Th' awaken'd heaps, in streamlets from on high, 
Rous'd into action, lively leap away, 
Glad-warbling through the vales, in their new being gay. 

LXY. 

Not less the life, the vivid joy serene, 
That lighted up these new-created men, 
Than that which wings th' exulting spirit clean, 
When, just deliver'd from his fleshly den, 
It soaring seeks its native skies agen. 
How light its essence ! how unclogg'd its pow'ra, 
Beyond the blazon of my mortal pen ! 
Ev'n so we glad forsook these sinful bow'rs ; 
Even such enraptur'd life, such energy was ours. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE, 327 



IXVl. 

But far the greater part, witli rage inflam'd. 
Dire mutter'd curses, and blasphem'd high Jove. 
" Ye sons of hate ! " thej bitterly exclaim'd, 
" What brought you to this seat of peace and love '^ 
While with kind Nature, here amid the grove, 
We pass'd the harmless sabbath of our time, 
What to disturb it could, fell men, emove 
Your barbarous hearts 1 Is happiness a crime 1 
Then do the fiends of hell rule in yon heav'n sublime." 

Lxvn. 
" Ye impious wretches," quoth the knight in wrath, 
" Your happiness behold !" — Then straight a wand 
He wav'd, an anti-magic pow^r that hath, 
Truth from illusive falsehood to command. 
Sudden the landscape sinks on every hand ; 
The pure quick streams are marshy puddles found ; 
On baleful heaths the groves all blacken'd stand ; 
And, o'er the weedy, foul, abhorred ground. 
Snakes, adders, toads, each loathsome creature crawls 
around. 

Lxvin. 

And here and there, on trees by lightning scath'd, 
Unhappy wights who loathed life yhung ; 
Or, in fresh gore and recent murder bath'd. 
They weltering lay ; or else, infuriate flung 
Into the gloomy flood, while ravens sung 
The funeral dirge, they down the torrent roll'd : 
These, by distemper'd blood to madness stung. 
Had doom'd themselves ; whence oft, when Night con- 
troll'd 
The world, returning hither their sad spirits howl'd 



328 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



LXIX. 

Meantime a moving scene was open laid : 
That lazar-house, I whilom in my lay 
Depainted have, its horrors deep display'd, 
And gave unnumber'd wretches to the day. 
Who tossing there in squalid misery lay. 
Soon as of sacred light th' unwonted smile 
Pour'd on these living catacombs its ray, 
Through the drear caverns stretching many a mile, 
The sick up-rais'd their heads, and dropp'd their woes 
a while. 

LXX. 

" Heaven ! " they cried, " and do we once more see 
Yon blessed sun, and this green earth so fair 1 
Are we from noisome damps of pest-house free 1 
And drink our souls the sweet ethereal air 1 
thou, or knight, or God, who boldest there 
That fiend, oh, keep him in eternal chains ! 
But what for us, the children of despair, 
Brought to the brink of hell, what hope remains ? 
Repentance does itself but aggravate our pains." 

LXXL 

The gentle knight, who saw their rueful case, 
Let fall adown his silver beard some tears. 
" Certes," quoth he, " it is not ev'n in Grace, 
T' undo the past, and eke your broken years : 
Nathless, to nobler worlds Repentance rears. 
With humble hope, her eye ; to her is given 
A pow'r the truly contrite heart that cheers ; 
She quells the brand by which the rocks are riven ; 
She more than merely softens — she rejoices, Heaven. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 320 



LXXII. 

" Then patient bear the sufferings jou have earn'd, 
And by these suff'rings purify the mind ; 
Let 'wisdom be by past misconduct learn'd : 
Or pious die, "with penitence resign'd ; 
And to a life more happy and refin'd, 
Doubt not, you shall, new creatures, yet arise. 
Till then, you may expect in me to find 
One who will wipe your sorrow from your eyes, 
One who will soothe your pangs, and wing you to the skies."' 

LXXIII. 

They silent heard, and pour'd their thanks in tears. 
" For you," resum ""d the knight with sterner tone, 
" Whose hard dry hearts th' obdurate demon sears ; 
That villain's gifts will cost you many a groan. 
In dolorous mansion long you must bemoan 
His fatal charms, and weep your stains away ; 
Till, soft and pure as infant goodness grown, 
You feel a perfect change : then, who can say 
What grace may yet shine forth in Heaven's eternal day ? " 

LXXIV. 

This said, his powerful wand he wav'd anew : 
Instant, a glorious angel-train descends, — 
The Charities, to wit, of rosy hue ; 
Sweet love their looks a gentle radiance lends. 
And with seraphic flame compassion blends. 
At once, delighted, to their charge they fly: 
When, lo ! a goodly hospital ascends ; 
In which they bade each lenient aid be nigh, 
That could the sick-bed smooth of that sad company. 



330 THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 



LXXV. 

It was a worthy, edifying sight, 
And gives to human-kind peculiar grace, 
To see kind hands attending day and night. 
With tender ministry, from place to place. 
Some prop the head ; some from the paUid face 
Wipe off the faint cold dews weak Nature sheds ; 
Some reach the healing draught : the whilst, to chase 
The fear supreme, around their soften'd beds, 
Some holy man by prayer all opening heav'n dispreds. 

LXXVI. 

Attended by a glad acclaiming train. 
Of those he rescu'd had from gaping hell. 
Then turn'd the knight ; and, to his hall again 
Soft-pacing, sought of Peace the mossy cell. 
Yet down his cheeks the gems of pity fell. 
To see the helpless wretches that remain'd. 
There left through delves^ and desarts dire to yell : 
Amaz'd, their looks with pale dismay were stain'd, 
And, spreading wide their hands, they meek repentance 
feign'd. 

LXXVII. 

But ah ! their scorn e'd day of grace was past : 
For (horrible to tell I) a desart wild 
Before them stretch'd, bare, comfortless, and vast .; 
With gibbets, bones, and carcases defil'd. 
There nor trim field nor lively culture smil'd ; 
Nor waving shade was seen, nor fountain fair : 
But sands abrupt on sands lay loosely pil'd. 
Through which they flound' ring toil'd with painful care, 
Whilst Phoebus smote them sore, and fir M the cloudless air. 

' ' Delves : ' deserts. 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. 331 



LXXVin. 

Then, varying to a joyless land of bogs, 
The sadden'd country a grey waste appear'd, 
"Where naught but putrid streams and noisome fogs 
For ever hung on drizzly Auster's^ beard ; 
Or else the ground, by piercing Caurus^ sear'd, 
Was jagg'd with frost, or heap'd with glazed snow : 
Through these extremes a ceaseless round they steer'd, 
By cruel fiends still hurried to and fro, 
Gaunt Beggary, and Scorn, with many hell-hounds moe. 

LXXIX. 

The first was with base dunghill rags yclad. 
Tainting the gale, in which they flutter'd light ; 
Of morbid hue his features, sunk, and sad ; 
His hollow eyne shook forth a sickly light ; 
And o'er his lank jaw-bone, in piteous plight. 
His black rough beard was matted rank and vile ; 
Direful to see ! a heart-appalling sight ! 
Meantime foul scurf and blotches him defile ; 
And dogs, where'er he went, still barked all the while. 

LXXX. 

The other was a fell despiteful fiend : 
Hell holds none worse in baleful bow'r below : 
By pride, and wit, and rage, and rancour, keen'd ; 
Of man, alike if good or bad, the foe. 
With nose up-turn'd, he always made a show 
As if he smelt some nauseous scent : his eye 
Was cold and keen, like blast from Boreal snow ; 
And taunts he casten forth most bitterly. 
Such were the twain that off drove this ungodly fry. 

' ' Auster : ' south-east wind. — ^ ' Caurus : ' north-east ■wind. 



332 



THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE; 



LXXXI. 

Even so tlirougli Brentford town, a town of mud, 
A herd of bristly swine is prick'd along ; 
The filthy beasts, that never chew the cud, 
Still grunt, and squeak, and sing their troublous song, 
And oft they plunge themselves the mire among ; 
But aye the ruthless driver goads them on, 
And aye of barking dogs the bitter throng 
Makes them renew their unmelodious moan ; 
Ne ever find they rest from their unresting fone.^ 

' ' Pone : ' foes. 




/ 



jacrru to tlje j^enmrp 



OF 



SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 



INSCRIBED TO THE 



RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR ROBERT WALPOLE. 



Shall tlie great soul of Newton quit this earth, 

To mingle with his stars ; and every Muse, 

Astonish'd into silence, shun the weight 

Of honours due to his illustrious name '? 

But what can man 'i — Even now the sons of light. 

In strains high-warbled to seraphic Ijre, 

Hail his arrival on the coast of bliss. 

Yet am not I deterr'd, though high the theme, 

And sung to harps of angels ; for with you, 

Ethereal flames ! ambitious, I aspire lo 

In Nature's general symphony to join. 

x\nd what new wonders can ye show your guest 1 
Who, while on this dim spot, where mortals toil, 
Clouded in dust, from Motion's simple laws, 
Could trace the secret hand of Providence 
Wide-working through this universal frame. 

Have ye not listen'd while he bound the Suns 
And Planets to their spheres '? th' unequal task 



334 TO THE MEMORY OF 

Of human-kind till then. Oft had they roll'd is 

O'er erring man the year, and oft disgrac 'd 

The pride of Schools, before their course was known 

FuU in its causes and effects to him, 

All-piercing sage ! who sat not down and dream'd 

Romantic schemes, defended by the din 

Of specious words, and tyranny of names ; 

But, bidding his amazing mind attend. 

And with heroic patience years on years 

Deep-searching, saw at last the System dawn, 

And shine, of all his race, on him alone. 29 

What were his raptures then ! how pure ! how strong ! 
And what the triumphs of old Greece and Rome, 
By his diminish'd, but the pride of boys 
In some small fray victorious "? when, instead 
Of shatter'd parcels of this earth usurp'd 
By violence unmanly, and sore deeds 
Of cruelty and blood. Nature herself 
Stood all-subduM by him, and open laid 
Her every latent glory to his view. 

All-intellectual eye, our solar round 
First gazing through, he by the blended power 40 

Of gravitation and projection saw 
The whole in silent harmony revolve. 
From unassisted vision hid, the moons 
To cheer remoter planets numerous form'd, 
By him in all their mingled tracts were seen. 
He also fix'd our wandering queen of night, 
Whether she wanes into a scanty orb, 
Or, waxing broad, with her pale shadowy light, 
In a soft deluge overflows the sky. 
Her every motion clear-discerning, he so 

Adjusted to the mutual Main, and taught 
Why now the mighty mass of water swells 



SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 335 

Resistless, heaving on the broken rocks, 53 

And the full river turning ; tiU again 
The tide revertive, unattracted, leaves 
A yellow waste of idle sands behind. 

Then breaking hence, he took his ardent flight 
Through the blue infinite ; and every star, 
Which the clear concave of a winter's night 
Pours on the eye ; or astronomic tube, 60 

Far-stretching, snatches from the dark abyss ; 
Or such as farther in successive skies 
To fancy shine alone, — at his approach 
BlazM into suns, the living centre each 
Of an harmonious system : all combin 'd 
And ruled unerring by that single pow'r 
Which draws the stone projected to the ground. 

unprofuse magnificence divine ! 
wisdom truly perfect ! thus to call 
From a few causes such a scheme of things, 7o 

Efiects so various, beautiful, and great, 
A universe complete ! And, belov'd 
Of Heaven, whose well-purg'd, penetrative eye. 
The mystic veil transpiercing, inly scann'd 
The rising, moving, wide-establish'd frame ! 

He first of men with awful wing pursu'd 
The comet through the long elliptic curve. 
As round innumerous worlds he wound his way ; 
Till, to the forehead of our evening sky 
Return'd, the blazing wonder glares anew, 80 

And o'er the trembling nations shakes dismay. 

The heav'ns are all his own ; from the wild rule 
Of whirling vortices and circling spheres, 
To their first great simplicity restored. 
The Schools astonish'd stood ; but found it vain 
To combat still with demonstration strong. 



336 TO THE MEMORY OF 

And, unawaken'd, dream beneath the blaze S" 

Of truth. At once their pleasing visions fled, 
With the gay shadows of the morning mix'd, 
When Newton rose, om- philosophic sun ! 

Th' aerial flow of Sound was known to him, 
From whence it first in wavy circles breaks, 
Till the touch'd organ takes the message in. 
Nor could the darting beam, of speed immense, 
Escape his swift pursuit and measuring eye. 
Even Light itself, which every thing displays, 
Shone undiscover'd, till his brighter mind 
Untwisted all the shining robe of day ; 
And, from the whitening undistioguish'd blaze. 
Collecting every ray into his kind, i*^*> 

To the charm'd eye educ'd the gorgeous train 
Of parent colours. First the flaming Red 
Sprung vivid forth ; the tawny Orange next ; 
And next delicious Yellow ; by whose side 
Fell the kind beams of all-refreshing Green : 
Then the pure Blue, that swells autumnal skies, 
Ethereal play'd ; and then, of sadder hue, 
Emerg'd the deepen'd Indico, as when 
The heavy-skirted evening droops with frost ; 
While the last gloamings of refracted light no 

Died in the fainting Violet away. 
These, when the clouds distil the rosy show'r. 
Shine out distinct adown the wat'ry bow ; 
While o'er our heads the dewy vision bends 
Delightful, melting on the fields beneath. 
Myriads of mingling dyes from these result. 
And myriads still remain ; — infinite source 
Of beauty, ever blushing, ever new ! 

Did ever poet image aught so fair, 
Dreaming in whispering groves, by the hoarse brook 1 



SIR ISAAC NEWTON. So 7 

Or prophet, to whose rapture heav'n descends ? i-i 
Ev'n now the setting sun and shifting clouds, 
Seen, Greenwich, from thj lovely heights, declare, 
How just, how beauteous, the refractive law. 

The noiseless tide of Time, all bearing down 
To vast Eternity's unbounded sea. 
Where the green islands of the happy shine, 
He stemm'd alone ; and to the source (iuvolv'd 
Deep in primeval gloom) ascending, rais'd 
His lights at equal distances, to guide i3o 

Historian, wilder'd on his darksome way. 

But who can number up his labours ? who 
His high discov ' ries sing ? when but a few 
Of the deep-studying race can stretch their minds 
To what he knew : in Fancy's lighter thought, 
How shall the Muse, then, grasp the mighty theme 1 

What wonder thence that his devotion swell'd 
Responsive to his knowledge '\ For could he, 
Whose piercing mental eye diffusive saw 
The finish'd university of things, 140 

In all its order, magnitude, and parts, 
Forbear incessant to adore that Pow'r 
Who fills, sustains, and actuates the whole ? 

Say, ye who best can tell, ye happy few, 
Who saw him in the softest lights of life, 
All unwithheld, indulging to his friends 
The vast unborrow'd treasures of his mind, 
Oh, speak the wondrous man ! how mild, how calm, 
How greatly humble, how divinely good, 
How firm establish'd on eternal truth ! iso 

Fervent in doing well ; with every nerve 
Still pressing on, forgetful of the past, 
And panting for perfection : far above 
Those little cares and visionary joys 

Y 



338 TO THE MEMORY OF 

That so perplex the fond impassiou'd heart 155 

Of ever-cheated, eyer-trusting man. 

And you, ye hopeless, gloomy-minded tribe. 
You who, unconscious of those nobler flights 
That reach impatient at immortal life, 
Against the prime endearing privilege I60 

Of Being dare contend, say, can a soul 
Of such extensive, deep, tremendous pow'rs, 
Enlarging still, be but a finer breath 
Of spirits dancing through their tubes a while. 
And then for ever lost in vacant air "? 

But hark ! methinks I hear a warning voice. 
Solemn as when some awful change is come, 
Sound through the world — 'Tis done; the measures full; 
And I resign my charge. Ye mouldering stones, 
That build the tow 'ring pyramid, the proud 170 

Triumphal arch, the monument effac'd 
By ruthless ruin, and whate'er supports 
The worshipp'd name of hoar Antiquity, 
Down to the dust ! What grandeur can ye boast, 
While Newton lifts his column to the skies. 
Beyond the waste of time % Let no weak drop 
Be shed for him. The virgin in her bloom 
Cut off, the joyous youth, and darling child, — 
These are the tombs that claim the tender tear 
And elegiac song. But Newton calls I80 

For other notes of gratulation high, 
That now he wanders through those endless worlds 
He here so well descried, and wondering talks, 
And hymns their Author, with his glad compeers. 

Oh, Britain's boast ! whether with angels thou 
Sittest in dread discourse, or fellow-bless'd 
Who joy to see the honour of their kind ; 
Or whether, mounted on cherubic wing, 



SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 339 

Thj swift career is with the whirling orbs, i89 

Comparing things with things, in rapture lost, 

And grateful adoration, for that light 

So plenteous ray'd into thy mind below, 

From Light Himself ; oh, look with pity down 

On human-kind, a frail erroneous race ! 

Exalt the spirit of a downward world ! 

O'er thy dejected country chief preside, 

And be her Genius call'd ! her studies raise. 

Correct her manners, and inspire her youth. 

For, though deprav'd and sunk, she brought thee forth. 

And glories in thy name ; she points thee out 200 

To all her sous, and bids them eye thy star : 

While, in expectance of the second life. 

When time shall be no more, thy sacred dust 

Sleeps with her kinir;3, and dignifies the scene. 




BRITANNIA; 

9 IPoem. 



Et tantas audetis tollere moles? 

Quos ego — sed motes praestat componere fluctus. 
Post mihi nou simili poena commissa luetis. 
Maturate fugam, regique haBC dicite vestro : 
Non illi imperium pelagi, ssevumque tridentem, 
Sed mihi sorte datum. \nn',. 



As on tlie sea-beat shore Britannia sat, 

Of her degenerate sons the faded fame, 

Deep in her anxious heart, revolving sad ; 

Bare was her throbbing bosom to the gale, 

That, hoarse and hollow, from the bleak surge ble^v ; 

Loose flow'd her tresses ; rent her azure robe 

Hung o'er the deep ; from her majestic brow 

She tore the laurel, and she tore the bay. 

Nor ceas'd the copious grief to bathe her cheek ; 

Nor ceas'd her sobs to murmur to the main. lo 

Peace discontented, nigh departing, stretch'd 

Her dove-like wings ; and War, though greatlj rous'd, 

Yet mourn'd his fetter'd hands : while thus the Queen 

Of nations spoke ; and what she said the Muse 

Recorded, faithful, in unbidden verse : — 

•* E"v ' n not jon sail, that, from the skj-mix'd wave. 
Dawns on the sight, and wafts the Royal Youth, ^ 

' ' Royal Youth : ' Frederick, Prince of Wales, then lately arrived. 



BRITANNIA. 341 

A freight of future glorj, to mj shore ; i8 

E"v'n not the flattering view of golden days, 

And rising periods yet of bright renown, 

Beneath the Parents, and their endless line 

Through late-revolving time, can soothe my rage, 

While, unchastis'd, th' insulting Spaniard dares 

Infest the trading flood, full of vain war 

Despise my navies, and my merchants seize, 

As, trusting to false peace, they fearless roam 

The world of waters wild, made, by the toil 

And liberal blood of glorious ages, mine ; 

Nor bursts my sleeping thunder on their head. 

Whence this unwonted patience, this weak doubt, so 

This tame beseeching of rejected peace, 

This meek forbearance, this unnative fear, 

To generous Britons never known before ? 

And sail'd my fleets for this 1 — on Indian tides 

To float, inactive, with the veering winds, 

The mockery of war ! while hot disease, 

And sloth distempered, swept off" burning crowds, 

For action ardent ; and amid the deep. 

Inglorious, sunk them in a watery grave. 

There now they lie beneath the rolling flood, 40 

Far from their friends and country, unaveng 'd ; 

And back the drooping war-ship comes again, 

Dispirited and thin ; her sons asham 'd 

Thus idly to re-view their native shore ; 

With not one glory sparkling in their eye, 

One triumph on their tongue. A passenger 

The violated merchant comes along ; 

That far-sought wealth, for which the noxious gale 

He drew, and sweat beneath equator suns. 

By lawless force detained ; a force that soon 60 

Would melt away, and every spoil resign, 



34.2 BRITANNIA. 

Were once the British lion heard to roar. 52 

Whence is it that the proud Iberian thus, 

In their own well-asserted element, 

Dares rouse to wrath the masters of the main ? 

Who told him that the big incumbent war 

Would not, ere this, have roU'd his trembling porta 

In smoky ruin, and his guilty stores, 

Won by the ravage of a butcher'd world, 

Yet unaton'd, sunk in the swallowing deep, 60 

Or led the glittering prize into the Thames 1 

" There was a time (oh, let my languid sons 
Resume their spirit at the rousing thought !) 
When all the pride of Spain, in one dread fleet, 
Swell'd o'er the labouring surge, like a whole heav n 
Of clouds, wide-roll'd before the boundless breeze. 
Gaily the splendid armament along 
Exultant plough'd, reflecting a red gleam, 
As sunk the sun, o'er all the flaming vast ; 
Tall, gorgeous, and elate ; drunk with the dream ro 
Of easy conquest : while their bloated war, 
Stretch'd out from sky to sky, the gather'd force 
Of ages held in its capacious womb. 
But soon, regardless of the cumbrous pomp, 
My dauntless Britons came, a gloomy few. 
With tempest black, the goodly scene deform'd. 
And laid their glory waste. The bolts of Fate 
Resistless thunder'd through their yielding sides ; 
Fierce o'er their beauty blaz'd the lurid flame ; 
And, seiz'd in horrid grasp, or shatter'd wide, so 

Amid the mighty waters deep they sunk. 
Then too from every promontory chill. 
Rank fen, and cavern where the wild wave works, 
I swept confederate winds, and swell'd a storm. 
Round the glad isle, snatch'd by the vengeful blast, 



BRITANNIA. 343 

The scatter'd remnants drove ; on tlie blind shelve, 86 
And pointed rock, that marks th' indented shore, 
Relentless dash'd, where loud the northern main 
Howls through the fractur'd Caledonian isles. 

"Such were the dawnings of mj wat'rj reign ; 
But since, how vast it grew, how absolute, 
Even in those troubled times when dreadful Blake 
Aw'd angrj nations with the British name, 
Let every humbled state, let Europe saj, 
Sustain'd and balanc'd, bj mj naval arm. 
Ah! what must those immortal spirits think 
Of your poor shifts ? — those, for their country's good. 
Who fac'd the blackest danger, knew no fear, 
No mean submission, but commanded peace 1 
Ah ! how with indignation must they burn ! loo 

(If aught but joy can touch ethereal breasts), 
With shame ! with grief! to see their feeble sons 
Shrink from that empire o'er the conquer'd seas. 
For which their wisdom plann'd, their councils glow'd, 
And their veins bled through many a toiling age ! 

" Oh, first of human blessings, and supreme 1 
Fair Peace ! how lovely, how delightful thou ! 
By whose wide tie the kindred sons of men 
Like brothers live, in amity combin'd. 
And unsuspicious faith ; while honest Toil no 

Gives every joy, and to those joys a right 
Which idle, barbarous Rapine but usurps. 
Pure is thy reign, when, unaccurs'd by blood, 
Naught save the sweetness of indulgent show'rs, 
Trickling distils into the verdant glebe, 
Instead of mangled carcasses, sad-seen, 
When the blithe sheaves lie scatter'd o'er the field ; 
When only shining shares, the crooked knife, 
And hooks imprint the vegetable wound ; 



344 BRITANNIA. 

When the land blushes with the rose alone, ]2o 

The falling fruitage, and the bleeding vine. 

Peace ! thou source and soul of social life ! 

Beneath whose calm inspiring influence. 

Science his views enlarges, Art refines. 

And swelling Commerce opens all her ports ; 

Blest be the man divine who gives us thee ! 

Who bids the trumpet hush his horrid clang, 

Nor blow the giddj nations into rage ; 

Who sheaths the murderous blade ; the deadly gun 

Into the well-pilM armoury returns ; iso 

And, every vigour from the work of death 

To grateful industry converting, makes 

The country flourish and the city smile ! 

Unviolated, him the virgin sings ; 

And him the smiling mother to her train. 

Of him the shepherd, in the peaceful dale. 

Chants ; and, the treasures of his labour sure. 

The husbandman of him, as at the plough 

Or team he toils. With him the sailor soothes. 

Beneath the trembling moon, the midnight wave ; ho 

And the full city, warm, from street to street 

And shop to shop responsive, sings of him. 

Nor joys one laud alone : his praise extends 

Far as the sun rolls the diffusive day ; 

Far as the breeze can bear the gifts of Peace, 

Till all the happy nations catch the song. 

" What w^ould not, Peace ! the patriot bear for thee ? 
What painful patience ? what incessant care ? 
What mix'd anxiety 1 what sleepless toil 1 
Ev'n from the rash protected what reproach? 150 

For he thy value knows ; thy friendship he 
To human nature : but the better thou, 
The richer of delight, sometimes the more 



BEITANNIA. 345 

Inevitable war, when ruffian Force 154 

Awakes the fury of an injur ""d state. 

Even the good patient man whom Reason rules, 

Roiis'd by bold insult and injurious rage, 

With sharp and sudden check th' astonish'd sons 

Of Violence confounds ; firm as his cause, 

His bolder heart ; in awful justice clad ; leo 

His eyes efiiilging a peculiar fire : 

And, as he charges through the prostrate war, 

His keen arm teaches faithless men no more 

To dare the sacred vengeance of the just. 

" And what, my thoughtless sons, should fire you more 
Than when your well-earn'd empire of the deep 
The least beginning injury receives 1 
What better cause can call your lightning forth. 
Your thunder wake, your dearest life demand 1 
What better cause, than when your country sees no 
The sly destruction at her vitals aim'd ? 
For, oh ! it much imports you, 'tis your all, 
To keep your trade entire, entire the force 
And honour of your fleets ; o'er that to watch, 
Ev "n with a hand severe, and jealous eye. 
In intercourse be gentle, generous, just. 
By wisdom polish'd, and of manners fair ; 
But on the sea be terrible, untam'd, 
Unconquerable still ; let none escape 
Who shall but aim to touch your glory there. iso 

Is there the man, into the lion's den 
Who dares intrude, to snatch his young away 'i 
And is a Briton seiz'd '? and seiz'd beneath 
The slumb'ring terrors of a British fleet 1 
Then ardent rise ! oh, great in vengeance rise ! 
O'erturn the proud, teach Rapine to restore : 
And, as you ride sublimely round the world, 



346 BRITANNIA. 

Make every vessel stoop, make every state 188 

At once their welfare and their duty know. 

This is your glory ; this your wisdom ; this 

The native pow'r for which you were design'd 

By Fate, when Fate design'd the firmest state 

That e'er was seated on the subject sea ; 

A state alone where Liberty should live, 

In these late times, this evening of mankind, 

When Athens, Rome, and Carthage are no more, 

The world almost in slavish sloth dissolved. 

For this, these rocks around your coast were thrown ; 

For this, your oaks, peculiar harden'd, shoot 

Strong into sturdy growth ; for this, your hearts 200 

Swell with a sullen courage, growing still 

As danger grows ; and strength and toil for this 

Are liberal pour'd o'er all the fervent land. 

Then cherish this, this unexpensive pow'r, 

Undangerous to the Public, ever prompt, 

By lavish Nature thrust into your hand : 

And, unencumber'd with the bulk immense 

Of conquest, whence huge empires rose, and fell 

Self-crush'd, extend your reign from shore to shore, 

Where'er the wind your high behests can blow ; 210 

And fix it deep on this eternal base. 

For, should the sliding fabric once give way. 

Soon slacken'd quite, and past recov'ry broke, 

It gathers ruin as it rolls along, 

Steep-rushing down to that devouring gulf, 

Where many a mighty empire buried lies. 

And should the big redundant flood of trade, 

In which ten thousand thousand labours join 

Their several currents, till the boundless tide 

Rolls in a radiant deluge o'er the land, — 220 

Should this bright stream, the least inflected, point 



BRITANNIA. 347 

Its course another way, — o'er other lands 222 

The various treasure would resistless pour, 

Ne'er to be won again ; its ancient tract 

Left a vile channel, desolate and dead, 

With all around a miserable waste. 

Not Egypt, were her better heav'n, the Nile, 

Turn'd in the pride of flow, when o'er his rocks 

And roaring cataracts, beyond the reach 

Of dizzy vision pil d, in one wide flash 230 

An Ethiopian deluge foams amain ; 

(Whence wond'ring Fable trac'd him from the sky), — 

Ev'n not that prime of earth, where harvests crowd 

On untill'd harvests, all the teeming year, 

If of the fat o'erflowing culture robb'd, 

Were then a more uncomfortable wild. 

Sterile and void, than, of her trade depriv'd, 

Britons, your boasted isle ; — her princes sunk ; 

Her high-built honour moulder'd to the dust ; 

Ilnnerv'd her force ; her spirit vanish'd quite ; 240 

With rapid wing her riches fled away ; 

Her unfrequented ports alone the sign 

Of what she was ; her merchants scatter'd wide ; 

Her hollow shops shut up ; and in her streets. 

Her fields, woods, markets, villages, and roads. 

The cheerful voice of Labour heard no more. 

" Oh, let not then waste Luxury impair 
That manly soul of toil which strings your nerves, 
And your own proper happiness creates ! 
Oh, let not the soft, penetrating plague 250 

Creep on the free-born mind ; and, working there. 
With the sharp tooth of many a new-form'd want. 
Endless, and idle all, eat out the heart 
Of Liberty ; the high conception blast ; 
The noble sentiment, th' impatient scorn 



348 BKITANNIA. 

Of base subjection, and the swelling wish 256 

For general good, erazing from the mind : 
While naught save narrow selfishness succeeds. 
And low design, the sneaking passions all 
Let loose, and reigning in the rankled breast. 
Indue 'd at last bj scarce-perceiv'd degrees, 
Sapping the very frame of government 
And life, a total dissolution comes ; — 
Sloth, ignorance, dejection, flattery, fear ; 
Oppression raging o'er the waste he makes ; 
The human being almost quite extinct ; 
And the whole state in broad corruption sinks. 
Oh, shun that gulf ! that gaping ruin shun ! 
And countless ages roll it far away 
From you, ye Heav'n-beloved! May Liberty, 270 

The light of life ! the sun of human-kind ! 
Whence heroes, bards, and patriots borrow flame, 
Ev'n where the keen depressive North descends, 
Still spread, exalt, and actuate your pow 'rs. 
While slavish southern climates beam in vain ! 
And may a public spirit from the throne, 
Where every virtue sits, go copious forth, 
Live o'er the land, the finer Arts inspire. 
Make thoughtful Science raise her pensive head. 
Blow the fresh bay, bid Industry rejoice, 28 

And the rough sons of lowest Labour smile : 
As when, profuse of spring, the loosen'd West 
Lifts up the pining year, and balmy breathes 
Youth, life, and love, and beauty o'er the world. 
" But haste we from these melancholy shores, 
Nor to deaf winds and waves our fruitless plaint 
Pour weak ; the country claims our active aid ; 
That let us roam, and, where we find a spark 
Of public virtue, blow it into flame. 



BRITANNIA. 349 

Lo ! now mj sons, the sons of Freedom ! meet 290 

In awful senate ; thither let us flj, 

Bm'n in the patriot's thought, flow from his tongue 

In fearless truth ; myself, transform'd, preside. 

And shed the spirit of Britannia round." 

This said, her fleeting form and airj train 
Sunk in the gale ; and naught but ragged rocks 
Rush'd on the broken eje ; and naught was heard 
But the rough cadence of the dashing wave. 




Co ti)t iHetnorp of 

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 

THE LORD TALBOT, 

LATE CHANCELLOR OF GREAT BRITAIN ; 

ADDRESSED TO HIS SON. 



While, with tlie public, you, mj Lord, lameut 

A friend and father lost ; permit the Muse, — 

The Muse assign'd of old a double theme : 

To praise dead worth and humble living pride, 

Whose generous task begins where interest ends ; — 

Permit her on a Talbot's tomb to lay 

This cordial verse sincere, by Truth inspir'd. 

Which means not to bestow, but borrow, fame. 

Yes, she may sing his matchless virtues now — 

Unhappy that she may! — But where begin ? lo 

How from the diamond single out each ray. 

Where all, though trembling with ten thousand hues, 

Effuse one dazzling undivided light 1 

Let the low-minded of these narrow days 
No more presume to deem the lofty tale 
Of ancient times, in pity to their own, 
Romance. In Talbot, we united saw 
The piercing eye, the quick enlighten'd soul, 
The graceful ease, the flowing tongue of Greece, 
Join'd to the virtues and the force of Rome. 20 

Eternal Wisdom, that all-quick 'ning Sun, 



TO THE MEMORY OF THE LORD TALBOT. 351 

Whence every life, in just proportion, draws 22 

Directing light and actuating flame, 
Ne'er with a larger portion of its beams 
Awaken'd mortal clay. Hence steady, calm. 
Diffusive, deep, and clear, his reason saw. 
With instantaneous view, the truth of things ; 
Chief what to human life and human bliss 
Pertains, — that noblest science, fit for man : 
And hence, responsive to his knowledge, glow'd -'-o 

His ardent virtue. Ignorance and Vice, 
In consort foul, agree, each height 'ning each ; 
While Virtue draws from Knowledge brighter fire. 
What grand, what comely, or what tender sense, 
What talent, or what virtue, was not his ? 
What that can render man or great or good, 
Give useful worth or amiable grace 1 
Nor could he brook in studious shade to lie, 
In soft retirement, indolently pleas 'd 
With selfish peace. The Siren of the wise 4o 

(Who steals th' Aonian song, and, in the shape 
Of Virtue, woos them from a worthless world), 
Though deep he felt her charms, could never melt 
His strenuous spirit, recollected, calm 
As silent night, yet active as the day. 
The more the bold, the bustling, and the bad, 
Press to usurp the reins of pow'r, the more 
Behoves it Virtue, with indignant zeal, 
To check their combination. Shall low views 
Of sneaking Interest or luxurious Vice, 50 

The villain's passions, quicken more to toil. 
And dart a livelier vigour through the soul, 
Than those that, mingled with our truest good, 
With present honour and immortal fame. 
Involve the good of all ? An emptj^ form 



352 TO THE MEMORY OF 

Is the weak Virtue that amid the shade 56 

Lamenting lies, with future schemes amus'd, 

While Wickedness and Follj, kindred pow'rs, 

Confound the world. A Talbot's, different far, 

Sprung ardent into action, that disdain'd 

To lose in death-like sloth one pulse of life 

That might be sav 'd ; disdain'd, for coward Ease 

And her insipid pleasures, to resign 

The prize of glorj, the keen sweets of toil, 

And those high joys that teach the truly great 

To live for others, and for others die. 

Early, behold ! he breaks benign on life. 
Not breathing more beneficence, the Spring 
Leads in her swelling train the gentle airs : 
While gay, behind her, smiles the kindling waste 70 

Of ruffian storms and Winter's lawless rage. 
In him Astrsea to this dim abode 
Of ever-wand'ring men return'd again : 
To bless them his delight, to bring them back, 
From thorny error, from unjoyous wrong, 
Into the paths of kind primeval faith. 
Of happiness and justice. All his parts. 
His virtues all, collected, sought the good 
Of human-kind. For that he, fervent, felt 
The throb of patriots, when they model states : 8o 

Anxious for that, nor needful sleep could hold 
His still awaken'd soul ; nor friends had charms 
To steal, with pleasing guile, one useful hour ; 
Toil knew no languor, no attraction joy. 
Thus with unwearied steps, by Virtue led, 
He gain'd the summit of that sacred hill. 
Where, rais'd above black Envy's darkening clouds. 
Her spotless temple lifts its radiant front. 
Be nam'd, victorious ravagers, no more ! 



/ 



THE LOED TALBOT. 353 

Vanish, ye human comets ! shrink jour blaze ! »o 

Ye that your glory to your terrors owe, 

As, o'er the gazing, desolated earth, 

You scatter famine, pestilence, and war ; 

Vanish before this vernal sun of fame ! 

Effulgent sweetness ! beaming life and joy ! 

How the heart listen'd while he, pleading, spoke ! 
While on th' enlighten'd mind, with winning art, 
His gentle reason so persuasive stole, 
That the charm'd hearer thought it "was his own. 
Ah ! when, ye studious of the laws, again loo 

Shall such enchanting lessons bless your ear ? 
When shall again the darkest truths, perplex'd, 
Be set in ample day 1 w^hen shall the harsh 
And arduous open into smiling ease 1 
The solid mix with elegant delight ? 
His was the talent, with the purest light 
At once to pour conviction on the soul. 
And warm with lawful flame th' impassion'd hearts 
That dangerous gift with him was safely lodg'd 
By Heaven : He, sacred to his country's cause, no 

To trampled want and worth, to suffering right. 
To the lone widow's and her orphans' woes, 
Reserv'd the mighty charm. With equal brow, 
Despising then the smiles or frowns of Pow'r, 
He all that noblest eloquence effus 'd, 
Which generous Passion, taught by Reason, breathes : 
Then spoke the man : and over barren Art 
Prevail'd abundant Nature. Freedom then 
His client was, Humanity, and Truth. 

Plac'd on the seat of justice, there he reign'd, 120 
In a superior sphere of cloudless day, 
A pure intelligence. No tumult there, 
No dark emotion, no intemperate heat, 

z 



354* TO THE MEMORY OP 

No passion, e'er disturb'd the clear serene 124 

That round him spread. A zeal for right alone, 

The love of justice, like the steady sun. 

Its equal ardour lent ; and sometimes, raisM 

Against the sons of violence, of pride. 

And bold deceit, his indignation gleam'd, 

Yet still by sober dignity restrain'd. iso 

As intuition quick, he snatch'd the truth ; 

Yet with progressive patience, step by step. 

Self-diffident, or to the slower kind, 

He through the maze of falsehood trac'd it on, 

Till, at the last, evolv^ d, it full appear'd, 

And even the loser own'd the just decree. 

But when in senates he, to Freedom firm, 
Enlighten'd Freedom, plann'd salubrious laws. 
His various learning, his wide knowledge then, 
His insight deep into Britannia's weal, 140 

Spontaneous seem'd from simple sense to flow. 
And the plain patriot smooth M the brow of Law. 
No specious swell, no frothy pomp of words 
Fell on the cheated ear ; no studied maze 
Of declamation, to perplex the right. 
He, darkening, threw around : safe in itself, 
In its own force, all-powerful Reason spoke ; 
While on the great, the ruling point, at once. 
He stream'd decisive day, and show'd it vain 
To lengthen farther out the clear debate. ico 

Conviction breathes conviction ; to the heart, 
Pour'd ardent forth in eloquence unhid, 
The heart attends : for let the venal try 
Their ev'ry hardening, stupifying art. 
Truth must prevail, zeal will enkindle zeal, 
And Nature, skilful touch'd, is honest still. 

Behold him in the councils of his prince. 



THE LORD TALBOT. 355 

What faithful light he lends ! How rare, in courts, i58 

Such wisdom ! such abilities ! and join'd 

To virtue so determined, public zeal. 

And honour of such adamantine proof, 

As even Corruption, hopeless, and o'er-aw^d, 

Durst not have tempted! Yet, of manners mild, 

And winning every heart, he knew to please, 

Noblj to please ; while equally he scorn'd 

Or adulation to receive or give. 

Happy the state where wakes a ruling eye 

Of such inspection keen and general care ! 

Beneath a guard so vigilant, so pure. 

Toil may resign his careless head to rest, 170 

And ever-jealous Freedom sleep in peace. 

Ah ! lost untimely ! lost in downward days ! 

And many a patriot counsel with him lost ! 

Counsels that might have humbled Britain's foe. — 

Her native foe, from eldest time by Fate 

Appointed, — as did once a Talbot's arms. 

Let learning, arts, let universal worth, 
Lament a patron lost, a friend and judge. 
UnUke the sons of vanity, that, veil'd 
Beneath the patron's prostituted name, iso 

Dare sacrifice a worthy man to pride. 
And flush confusion o'er an honest cheek. 
When he conferr'd a grace, it seem'd a debt 
Which he to merit, to the public, paid, 
And to the great all-bounteous Source of Good. 
His sympathizing heart itself receiv'd 
The generous obligation he bestow'd. 
This, this indeed, is patronizing worth. 
Their kind protector him the Muses own. 
But scorn with noble pride the boasted aid 190 

Of tasteless Vanity's insulting hand. 



356 TO THE MEMORY OF 

The gracious stream, that cheers the letter'd world, 192 

Is not the noisy gift of Summer's nooD, 

Whose sudden current, from the naked root, 

Washes the little soil which yet remain'd, 

And only more dejects the blushing flowers : 

No, 'tis the soft-descending dews at eve. 

The silent treasures of the vernal year. 

Indulging deep their stores, the still night long ; 

Till, with returning morn, the freshen'd world 200 

]s fragrance all, all beauty, joy, and song. 

Still let me view him in the pleasing light 
Of private life, where pomp forgets to glare. 
And where the plain unguarded soul is seen. 
There with that truest greatness he appear'd. 
Which thinks not of appearing ; kindly veil'd 
In the soft graces of the friendly scene, 
Inspiring social confidence and ease. 
As free the converse of the wise and good, 
As joyous, disentangling every pow'r, 210 

And breathing mix'd improvement with delight, 
As when, amid the various-blossom'd Spring, 
Or gentle-beaming Autumn's pensive shade, 
The philosophic mind with Nature talks. 
Say ye, his sons, his dear remains, with whom 
The father laid superfluous state aside. 
Yet rais'd your filial duty thence the more, 
With friendship rais'd it, with esteem, with love 
Beyond the ties of blood, — oh ! speak the joy, 
The pure serene, the cheerful wisdom mild, 220 

The virtuous spirit, which his vacant hours. 
In semblance of amusement, through the breast 
Infus'd! And thou, Rundle !^ lend thy strain, 
Thou darling friend ! thou brother of his soul ! 

' Dr Rundle, late Bishop of Derry, in Ireland. 



THE LOED TALBOT, 357 

In whom the head and heart their stores unite ; 225 

Whatever Fancy paints, Invention pours, 

Judgment digests, the well-tun 'd bosom feels, 

Truth, natural, moral, or divine, has taught, 

The Virtues dictate, or the Muses sing. 

Lend me the plaint which to the lonely main, 230 

With Memory conversing, you will pour. 

As on the pebbled shore you, pensive, stray. 

Where Derry's mountains a bleak crescent form, 

And mid their ample round receive the waves. 

That, from the frozen pole resounding, rush 

Impetuous. Though from native sunshine driv'n, 

Driv'n from your friends, the sunshine of the soul, 

By slanderous zeal, and politics infirm. 

Jealous of worth ; yet will you bless your lot, 

Yet will you triumph in your glorious fate, 240 

W^hence Talbot's friendship glows to future times, 

Intrepid, warm ; of kindred tempers born ; 

NursM, by experience, into slow esteem. 

Calm confidence unbounded, love not blind. 

And the sweet light from mingled minds disclos'd, 

From mingled chymic oils as bursts the fire. 

I too remember well that cheerful bowl 
Which round his table flow'd. The serious there 
Mix'd with the sportive, with the learn'd the plain ; 
Mirth soften'd wisdom, candour temper'd mirth ; 250 
And wit its honey lent, without the sting. 
Not simple Nature's unaffected sons. 
The blameless Indians, round their forest-cheer, 
In sunny lawn or shady covert set. 
Hold more unspotted converse : nor, of old, 
Rome's awful consuls, her dictator-swains, 
As on the product of their Sabine farms 
They far'd, with stricter virtue fed the soul : 



358 TO THE MEMORY OP 

Nor yet in Athens, at an Attic meal, 259 

Where Socrates presided, fairer truth, 

More elegant humanity, more grace. 

Wit more refin'd, or deeper science reign'd. 

But far beyond the little vulgar bounds 
Of family, or friends, or native land, 
By just degrees, and with proportion'd flame, 
Extended his benevolence : a friend 
To human-kind, to parent Nature's works. 
Of free access, and of engaging grace, 
Such as a brother to a brother owes, 
He kept an open judging ear for all, 270 

And spread an open countenance, where smil'd 
The fair efiulgence of an open heart ; 
While on the rich, the poor, the high, the low, 
With equal ray, his ready goodness shone : 
For nothing human foreign was to him. 

Thus to a dread inheritance, my Lord, 
And hard to be supported, you succeed : 
But, kept by virtue, as by virtue gain'd. 
It will, through latest time, enrich your race, 
When grosser wealth shall moulder into dust, 280 

And with their authors in oblivion sunk 
Vain titles lie, the servile badges oft 
Of mean submission, not the meed of worth. 
True genuine honour its large patent holds 
Of all mankind, through every land and age, 
Of universal Reason's various sons. 
And ev'n of God himself, sole perfect Judge ! 
Yet know, these noblest honours of the mind 
On rigid terms descend : the high-plac'd heir, 
Scann'd by the public eye, that, with keen gaze, 290 
Malignant seeks out faults, cannot through life. 
Amid the nameless insects of a court. 



THE LOED TALBOT. 359 

Unheeded steal ; but, witli his sire compar'd, 293 

He must be glorious, or he must be scorn'd. 
This truth to jou, who merit well to bear 
A name to Britons dear, th' officious Muse 
May safelj sing, and sing without reserve. 

Vain were the plaint, and ignorant the tear, 
That should a Talbot mourn. Ourselves, indeed. 
Our country robb'd of her delight and strength, 30o 

We may lament. Yet let us, grateful, joy. 
That we such virtues knew, such virtues felt. 
And feel them still, teaching our views to rise 
Through ever-brightening scenes of future worlds. 
Be dumb, ye worst of zealots ! ye that, prone 
To thoughtless dust, renounce that generous hope, 
Whence every joy below its spirit draws. 
And every pain its balm : a Talbot's light, 
A Talbot's virtues, claim another source 
Than the blind maze of undesigning blood ; sio 

Nor, when that vital fountain plays no more. 
Can they be quench'd amid the gelid stream. 

Methinks I see his mounting spirit, freed 
From tangling earth, regain the realms of day. 
Its native country, whence, to bless mankind, 
Eternal Goodness on this darksome spot 
Had ray'd it down a while. Behold! approv'd 
By the tremendous Judge of heav*n and earth, 
And to th' Almighty Father's presence join'd, 
He takes his rank, in glory and in bliss, 320 

Amid the human worthies. Glad around 
Crowd his compatriot shades, and point him out, 
With joyful pride, Britannia's blameless boast. 
Ah ! who is he that with a fonder eye 
Meets thine enraptur'd 1 — 'Tis the best of sons ! 
The best of friends ! — Too soon is realiz 'd 



360 - TO THE MEMORY OF THE LOED TALBOT. 

That hope which once forbade thj tears to flow ! 327 

Meanwhile the kindred souls of every land 

(Howe'er divided in the fretful days 

Of prejudice and error), mingled now 

In one selected, never-jarring state, 

Where God himself their only Monarch reigns, 

Partake the joy ; yet, such the sense that still 

Remains of earthly woes, for us below, 

And for our loss, they drop a pitying tear. 

But cease, presumptuous Muse, nor vainly strive 

To quit this cloudy sphere that binds thee down : 

'Tis not for mortal hand to trace these scenes, 

Scenes that our gross ideas grovelling cast 

Behind, and strike our boldest language dumb. 340 

Forgive, immortal shade ! if aught from earth, 
From dust, low-warbled, to those groves can rise 
"Where flows celestial harmony, forgive 
This fond superfluous verse. With deep-felt voice, 
On every heart impress'd, thy deeds themselves 
Attest thy praise. Thy praise the widow's sighs. 
And orphan's tears embalm. The good, the bad, 
The sons of justice and the sons of strife, 
" All who or freedom or who interest prize, 
A deep-divided nation's parties all, 350 

Conspire to swell thy spotless praise to Heaven. 
Glad Heaven receives it, and seraphic lyres 
With songs of triumph thy arrival hail. 
How vain this tribute, then ! this lowly lay ! 
Yet naught is vain which Gratitude inspires. 
I'he Muse, besides, her duty thus approves 
To Virtue, to her country, to mankind. 
To ruling Nature, that, in glorious charge. 
As to her priestess, gives it her, to hymn 
Whatever good and excellent she forms. seo 




POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 



A PAEAPHEASE ON THE LATTEE PAET OE THE 
SIXTH CHAPTEE OE ST MATTHEW. 



When my breast labours with oppressive care, 
And o'er my cheek descends the faUing tear ; 
While all my warring passions are at strife, 
Oh, let me listen to the words of life ! 
Rapture deep-felt His doctrine did impart, 
And thus He rais'd from earth the drooping heart : 

" Think not, when all your scanty stores afford 
Is spread at once upon the sparing board ; 
Think not, when worn the homely robe appears, 
While on the roof the howling tempest bears ; 
' What farther shall this feeble life sustain "? 
And what shall clothe these shivering limbs again ? 
Say, does not life its nourishment exceed. 
And the fair body its investing weed '? 

" Behold, and look away your low despair ! 
See the light tenants of the barren air : 
To them nor stores nor granaries belong, 
Naught but the woodland and the pleasing song ; 
Yet your kind Heavenly Father bends His eye 
On the least wing that flits along the sky. 



362 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS 

To Him tliej sing, when Spring renews tlie plain ; 
To Him they cry, in Winter's pinching- reign ; 
Nor is their music, nor their plaint, in vain : 
He hears the gaj, and the distressful, call, 
And with unsparing bounty fills them all. 

" Observe the rising lily's snowy grace, 
Observe the various vegetable race : 
They neither toil nor spin, but careless grow ; 
Yet see how warm they blush ! how bright they glow ! 
What regal vestments can with them compare ? 
What king so shining 1 or what queen so fair ? 

" If ceaseless thus the fowls of heav'n He feeds. 
If o'er the fields such lucid robes He spreads ; 
Will He not care for you, ye faithless 1 say ! 
Is He unwise 1 or are ye less than they 1 " 



HYMN ON SOLITUDK 

Hail, mildly pleasing Solitude, 
Companion of the wise and good ; 
But from whose holy, piercing eye 
The herd of fools and villains fly ! 

Oh, how I love with thee to walk, 
And listen to thy whisper'd talk, 
Which innocence and truth imparts. 
And melts the most obdurate hearts ! 

A thousand shapes you wear with ease, 
And still in every shape you please. 
Now, wrapp'd in some mysterious dream, 
A lone philosopher you seem ; 
Now quick from hill to vale you fly, 
And now you sweep the vaulted sky. 



POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 363 

A shepherd next, you haunt the plain, 
And warble forth your oaten strain : 
A lover now, with all the grace 
Of that sweet passion in your face : 
Then, calm'd to friendship, you assume 
The gentle-looking Hertford's bloom, 
As, with her Musidora, she 
(Her Musidora fond of thee), 
Amid the long-withdrawing vale, 
Awakes the rivall'd nightingale. 

Thine is the balmy breath of Morn, 
Just as the dew-bent rose is born ; 
And, while meridian fervours beat, 
Thine is the woodland dumb retreat : 
But chief, when evening-scenes decay, 
And the faint landscape swims away, 
Thine is the doubtful soft decHne, 
And that best hour of musing thine. 

Descending angels bless thy train. 
The virtues of the sage and swain ; 
Plain Innocence, in white array'd. 
Before thee lifts her fearless head : 
Religion's beams around thee shine. 
And cheer thy glooms with light divine ; 
About thee sports sweet Liberty ; 
And rapt Urania sings to thee. 

Oh, let me pierce thy secret cell, 
And in thy deep recesses dwell ! 
Perhaps from Norwood's oak-clad hill, 
When Meditation has her fill, 
I just may cast my careless eyes 
Where London's spiry turrets rise. 
Think of its crimes, its cares, its pain, 
Then shield me in the woods again. 



364 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 



TO THE REV. MR MURDOCH, 

RECTOR OF STEADDISHALL IN SUFFOLK. MDCCXXXVIII. 

Thus safely low, mj friend, ttou canst not fall : 
Here reigns a deep tranquillity o'er all ; 
No noise, no care, no vanity, no strife ; 
Men, woods, and fields, all breathe untroubled life. 
Then keep each passion down, however dear ; 
Trust me, the tender are the most severe. 
Guard, while 'tis thine, thy philosophic ease, 
And ask no joy but that of virtuous peace ; 
That bids defiance to the storms of fate : 
High bliss is only for a higher state. 



EPITAPH ON MISS STANLEY.^ 

Here, Stanley, rest ! escap'd this mortal strife, 
Above the joys, beyond the woes, of life ! 
Fierce pangs no more thy lively beauties stain, 
And sternly try thee with a year of pain : 
No more sweet patience, feigning oft relief. 
Lights thy sick eye, to cheat a parent's grief : 
With tender art, to save her anxious groan, 
No more thy bosom presses down its own : 
Now well-earn'd peace is thine, and bliss sincere 
Ours be the lenient, not unpleasing, tear ! 

• ' Miss Stanley: ' see ' Summer.' 



POEMS ON SEVEEAL OCCASION'S. 365 

Oh, born to bloom, then sink beneath the storm ! 
To show us Virtue in her fairest form ; 
To show us artless Reason's moral reign, 
What boastful Science arrogates in vain ; 
Th' obedient Passions knowing each their part; 
Calm light the head, and harmony the heart ! 

Yes, we must follow soon, will glad obey ; 
When a few suns have roll'd their cares away. 
Tired with vain life, will close the willing eye : 
'Tis the great birthright of mankind to die ! 
Bless'd be the bark that wafts us to the shore, 
Where death-divided friends shall part no more ! 
To join thee there, — here with thy dust repose, — 
Is all the hope thy hapless mother knows. 



ON THE DEATH OF MR AH^MAN,! 

A PARTICULAR FRIEND OF THE AUTHOR'S. 

As those we love decay, we die in part. 
String after string is sever'd from the heart ; 
Till loosen'd life, at last, but breathing clay, 
Without one pang, is glad to fall away. 
Unhappy he who latest feels the blow. 
Whose eyes have wept o'er ev'ry friend laid low, 
Dragg'd ling 'ring on from partial death to death, 
Till, dying, all he can resign is breath. 

• ' Mr Aikmau : ' a painter of the period. He died in 1731. 



366 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 



SONG. 

One day tlie god of fond desire, 
On mischief bent, to Damon said, 

" Why not disclose your tender fire, 
Not own it to the lovely maid 1" 

The shepherd mark'd his treacherous art, 
And, softly sighing, thus replied : 

" 'Tis true, you have subduM my heart, 
But shall not triumph o'er my pride. 

" The slave in private only bears 

Your bondage, who his love conceals ; 

But when his passion he declares. 

You drag him at your chariot-wheels." 



SONG. 

Unless with my Amanda blest, 

In vain I twine the woodbine bower ; 

Unless to deck her sweeter breast. 
In vain I rear the breathing flower : 

Awaken'd by the genial year, 

In vain the birds around me sing ; 

In vain the freshening fields appear : 
Without my love there is no Spring. 



POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 367 



SONG. 

Hard is the fate of him who loves, 
Yet dares not tell his trembling pain 

But to the sympathetic groves, 
But to the lonely listening plain. 

Oh, when she blesses next your shade ; 

Oh, when her footsteps next are seen 
In flowery tracks along the mead, 

In fresher mazes o'er the green ; 

Ye gentle spirits of the vale, 

To whom the tears of love are dear, 

From dying lilies waft a gale, 
And sigh my sorrows in her ear. 

Oh, tell her what she cannot blame, 

Though fear my tongue must ever bind ; 

Oh, tell her that my virtuous flame 
Is as her spotless soul refin'd. 

Not her own guardian-angel eyes 
With chaster tenderness his care ; 

Not purer her own wishes rise, 

Not holier her own sighs in prayer. 

But if, at first, her virgin fear 

Should start at Love's suspected name, 
With that of Friendship soothe her ear — 

True Love and Friendship are the same. 



368 POEMS OK SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 



SONG. 

Come, gentle god of soft desire, 

Come and possess mj liappy breast ! 

Not, Furj-like, in flames and fire, 
Or frantic Folly's wildness dress'd. 

But come in Friendship's angel-guise : 
Yet dearer thou than Friendship art : 

More tender spirit in thy eyes. 
More sweet emotions at thy heart. 

Oh, come ! with Goodness in thy train ; 

With peace and pleasure, void of" storm ', 
And, wouldst thou me for ever gain, 

Put on Amanda's winning form. 



SONG. 

For ever, Fortune, wilt thou prove 
An unrelenting foe to Love ; 
And, when we meet a mutual heart, 
Come in between, and bid us part ; 

Bid us sigh on from day to day. 
And wish, and wish the soul away ; 
Till youth and genial years are flown. 
And all the life of life is gone % 



POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 369 

But busy, busy still art thou. 
To bind the loveless, joyless vow, 
The heart from pleasure to delude. 
To join the gentle to the rude. 

For once, O Fortune, hear my prayer, 
And I absolve thy future care ; 
All other blessings I resign. 
Make but the dear Amanda mine. 



ODE TO SERAPHINA. 

The wanton's charms, however bright. 
Are like the false, illusive light. 
Whose flattering, unauspicious blaze 
To precipices oft betrays : 
But that sweet ray your beauties dart, 
Which clears the mind, and cleans the heart, 
Is like the sacred Queen of Night, 
Who pours a lovely, gentle light 
Wide o'er the dark, by wanderers blest. 
Conducting them to peace and rest. 
A vicious love depraves the mind, 
'Tis anguish, guilt, and folly join'd : 
But Seraphina's eyes dispense 
A mild and gracious influence ; 
Such as in visions angels shed 
Around the heaven-illumin'd head. 
To love thee, Seraphina, sure. 
Is to be tender, happy, pure ; 

2 a 



370 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 

'Tis from low passions to escape, 
And woo bright Virtue's fairest shape ; 
'Tis ecstasy with wisdom join'd, 
And heaven infas'd into the mind. 



ODE. 

Tell me, thou soul of her I love, 
Ah ! tell me, whither art thou fled "? 

To what delightful world above. 
Appointed for the happy dead ? 

Or dost thou, free, at pleasure roam, 
And sometimes share thy lover's woe, 

Where, void of thee, his cheerless home 
Can now, alas ! no comfort know ? 

Oh ! if thou hoverest round my walk. 
While, under every well-known tree, 

I to thy fancied shadow talk. 
And every tear is full of thee ; 

Should then the weary eye of grief. 
Beside some sympathetic stream, 

In slumber find a short relief. 

Oh, visit thou my soothing dream ! 



POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 371 



ODE ON BOLUS'S HARP. 

Ethereal race, inhabitants of air, 

Who hymn your God amid the secret grove ; 

Ye unseen beings, to my harp repair, 

And raise majestic strains, or melt in love. 

Those tender notes, how kindly they upbraid ! 

With what soft woe they thrill the lover's heart ! 
Sure, from the hand of some unhappy maid, 

Who died of love, these sweet complainings part ! 

But, hark ! that strain was of a graver tone : 

On the deep strings his hand some hermit throws ; 

Or he, the sacred bard,^ who sat alone 

In the drear waste, and wept his people's woes. 

Such was the song which Zion's children sung. 

When by Euphrates' stream they made their plaint ; 

And to such sadly-solemn notes are strung 
Angelic harps, to soothe a dying saint. 

Methinks I hear the full celestial choir. 

Through heaven's high dome their awful anthem raise ; 
Now chanting clear, and now they all conspire 

To swell the lofty hymn from praise to praise. 

Let me, ye wandering spirits of the wind. 

Who, as wild Fancy prompts you, touch the string, 

Smit with your theme be, in your chorus join'd ; 
For, till you cease, my Muse forgets to sing. 

• ' Sacred bard : ' Jeremiah. 



372 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 



ODE. 

Nightingale, best poet of the grove, 

That plaintive strain can ne'er belong to thee, 

Bless'd in the full possession of thy love : 

Oh, lend that strain, sweet Nightingale, to me ! 

'Tis mine, alas ! to mourn mj wretched fate : 
I love a maid who all my bosom charms. 

Yet lose my days without this lovely mate ; 
Inhuman Fortune keeps her from my arms. 

You, happy birds ! by Nature's simple laws 
Lead your soft lives, sustain'd by Nature's fare ; 

You dwell wherever roving Fancy draws. 
And love and song is all your pleasing care : 

But we, vain slaves of interest and of pride, 

Dare not be bless'd, lest envious tongues should blame 

And hence in vain I languish for my bride : 

Oh, mourn with me, sweet bird, my hapless flame ! 




Edinburgh : Printed hy Ballantyne & Co. 



/ 



